HISTORY 

'■Q-F- 'THE-^ ■ 



mTTHEW PAGE ANDREWS 




Class 
Book. 



Bra 



Copyright N° 



Tfl^ 



'"^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSrr 




GEORGE WASHINGTON 
From portrait by Charles Willson Peale, after one by Peale completed subsequent to 
the Trenton-Princeton campaign. The original is now the property of France, and is said 
to have been painted for Lafayette. Reproduced by permission through kindness of Ambas- 
sador Jusserand. 



HISTORY 



OF 



THE UNITED STATES 



BY 

MATTHEW PAGE ANDREWS, M.A. 



155 ILLUSTRATIONS AND 23 BLACK AND WHITE MAPS IN THE TEXT, 
ALSO ERONTISPIECE AND ONE MAP IN FULL COLOR 




PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON 
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 






COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY J. B. I.H'PINCOTT COMPANY 



MAY -1 1314 



Eleclroiij'ped and Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company 
The Washington Sq^iare Press, Philadelphia, U. S. A. 



/^x. 



A371663 



To 

THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER, TO WHOM 
I OWE MY EARLIEST INTEREST 
IN THE HISTORY OF MY COUNTRY 



PREFACE 

In the preparation of this book I wish gratefully to acknowledge 
the aid freely and generously given me by a number of able teach- 
ers of history and by special investigators other than those referred 
to in the course of the text. I am indebted for helpful criticism 
to Mr. Joseph Packard, formerly President of the School Board of 
Baltimore city; Dr. Henry E. Shepherd, formerly President of the 
College of Charleston; Mr. WiUiam Leigh, Jr., of St. Luke's 
School, Wayne, Pa.; Miss Grace M. Gallaher, of Bryn Mawr 
School, Baltimore; Mr. George S. Wills, formerly of the Baltimore 
Polytechnic Institute; and Mr. William Tappan, Principal of the 
Jefferson School for Boys. To Mr. Wills and to Mr. Tappan I am 
under special obligations for invaluable criticism in the matters 
of composition and style. 

Others who have reviewed the manuscript in whole or in part 
and who have greatly assisted in securing accuracy of statement 
or clearness of exposition are the Rt. Hon. James Bryce ^ and Mr. 
Sydney George Fisher, to both of whom I am indebted for the 
reading of portions of the manuscript and for suggestions on 
colonial history; to Mr. H. F. Powell, formerly on the staff of the 
Boston Herald, a special student of past and contemporary events; 
and to Mr. Gamaliel Bradford, of Massachusetts, author and spe- 
cialist in American biographical studies. To Professor John H. 
Latane, of the Johns Hopkins University, I am especially grateful 
for generous and most able criticism, and to Mr. Charles Francis 
Adams for important suggestions in nomenclature and outline. 

Limitations of space forbid acknowledgment of the many kind- 
nesses and courtesies I have received from librarians and special 

1 Viscount, 1914. 



vi PREFACE 

students in every section of the country, with whom I was in cor- 
respondence in an endeavor to avail myself of the latest investi- 
gations on every subject discussed or touched upon in this volume. 
In the matter of illustrations, I would particularly acknowledge 
the courtesy of Mr. F. H. Meserve, Mr. Wm. J. Campbell, and 
Mr. Charles W. Burrows, President of The United States History 
Company, publishers of Avery's History of the United States and 
its People. 

M. P. A. 



FOREWORD 

It is frequently stated that American history is less interesting 
than the narratives of the Old World countries. The writer has 
not found it so. On the contrary, during an experience of several 
years as an instructor in secondary schools, he found that the 
history of the United States could be made the most attractive 
subject of its kind. This was due not merely to its more intimate 
connection with the student, but also to the opportunities it offered 
for discussion and variety of viewpoint. In the whole high school 
curriculum it proved to be the subject best adapted to arouse the 
interest of an otherwise uninterested pupil. 

Practical experience as a teacher seemed clearly to indicate the 
need of a text-book that should present the results of the latest 
thought and research. The class-room comparison of text readings 
showed confusing divergencies of treatment in respect to the most 
important periods of United States history. These differences 
were not noted in the history texts of other countries, and were 
due to the fact that the writing of United States history had not 
emerged from the formative period to the present basis, a surer 
and, perhaps, a permanent one. In recent years new light has 
enveloped the oldest narrative landmarks. For exarnple, since 
certain Spanish archives have been made accessible, we have 
learned more about the discoveries of John Cabot and their rela- 
tive importance; and, because of painstaking work in the original 
English records, we are compelled to discredit much of the once- 
trusted narrative of Captain John Smith and to accept instead the 
testimony of the permanent settlers, as well as that of the founders, 
of the earliest English civilization in the New World. Unless re- 
cently written, no history has reaped the benefit of these labors of 
special investigators, to whom we are under lasting obligations. 

vii 



viii FOREWORD 

The changes in the treatment of more recent history is, how- 
ever, of greater importance than the discoveries among the older 
records. In the past few years writers on special topics have revolu- 
tionized historical viewpoints with regard to the political and social 
issues that distracted the country throughout the nineteenth cen- 
tury. The pubhcation, for instance, of a single volume on the atti- 
tude of one State on the subject of slavery caused an American 
scholar and historian of international reputation to exclaim that, 
in the light of this new presentation, he would have to recast the 
views of a lifetime. The volume referred to was issued as late as 
1910. 

Charles Francis Adams has said, in speaking particularly of 
the American historians, that they err oftenest through precon- 
ceptions, patriotism, or religious prejudices. Comparatively little 
error on account of religious predilections is now evident in Ameri- 
can history, but there still exists much that is due either to strong 
preconceptions or to sectional prejudices. This, also, is happily 
disappearing under the influence of a new ''era of good feeling" 
that welcomes light and liberality. The historian should be thor- 
oughly national and equally fair to every section of the country. 
A sense of proportion must always be present, and a State or sec- 
tion relatively of less importance now may have been powerful in 
a former period and should not, in proportionate treatment, suffer 
with respect to the period of its predominance. In this way only 
is the true historical perspective obtained. 

Class-room experience has demonstrated the necessity for 
extraordinary effort to secure greater continuity of narrative in the 
treatment of United States history. Commencing with the fall of 
Constantinople or the birth of Columbus and continuing through 
a succession of Spanish, French, and Portuguese explorers is not 
truly beginning with the history of the United States as a country 
founded under other auspices. In a text-book, this method has 
the consequence of confusing the mind of the student with a hun- 
dred details of exploration that bear no important part in the 
development of the United States, however much they concern 



FOREWORD ix 

the settlement of South America or Canada. Frequently, as much 
as one-seventh or even one-sixth of the text is devoted to events 
preceding the first English settlement. This space may certainly 
be used to better advantage in the real history of the United States. 
It is difficult enough to create, even approximately, a continuous 
story when the historian is confronted with thirteen different 
sources in English colonization alone. Therefore, for the sake of 
clearness, unity, continuity, and proportion, the narrative should 
commence with the first efforts of the colonization that was des- 
tined to shape and dominate the beginning of the republic. 

In this book, no unpractical or theoretical list of authorities 
takes up space at the end of each chapter. Brief suggestions with 
regard to authorities and their relative importance are presented 
in an appendix. Illustrations are given throughout the book, be- 
cause the author had opportunity, as a teacher, to observe their 
practical value. Moreover, the tendency of the age in every line 
of work is toward more and better illustrations rather than away 
from them. No effort has been made to 'Vrite down" to the 
experience of the pupil; but special care has been taken to make the 
text so clear that the general knowledge of the student will be 
naturally enlarged and thus the task of the teacher lightened. In 
fact, in the preparation of this volume for high school work, the 
author has constantly had in mind the needs of the teacher and 
the interest of those who may read and discuss it in the home. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL COMMENT AND 
SUGGESTIONS 

Occasional references have been made in the text to the work 
of special writers. No chapter bibhography has, however, been 
attempted and no complete bibliography is here presented. Like 
the notes at the close of the chapter, what follows is in the nature 
of ''sideHghts and suggestions." In a text-book for secondary 
schools even an approximately complete bibliography is confusing 
to the pupil. On the other hand an approximately perfect selection 
is well-nigh impossible of attainment. 

Sometimes the student may be easily encouraged to read a 
popular illustrated history of the United States such as those by 
Woodrow Wilson, and Garner and Lodge, or the more profusely 
illustrated volumes begun by Elroy McK. Avery; furthermore, 
special articles in such a compilation as Battles and Leaders of the 
Civil War or certain selected volumes in a series may arouse an 
interest in historical readings. Again, it is scarcely to be expected 
that the pupil in the secondary school will make use of works 
such as those prepared by John Bach McMaster, James Ford 
Rhodes, or some of those edited by Albert Bushnell Hart, however 
valuable these may be to the special or advanced worker. 

As a boy, the author enjoyed reading biographies and histori- 
cal novels. He read and reread a now obsolete and ponderous 
History of the United States by Goodrich. He could scarcely 
recommend the last-named work, or any single production above 
others, but he would heartily commend historical novels and the 
later biographies of great Americans. Among the latter he would 
like to commend many interesting volumes; but selection involves 
discrimination, and, on any subject, the best work of to-day may 
be superseded by something still better to-morrow. To-day there 
may be serious need for an accurate or comprehensive work on 

xi 



xii BIBLIOGRAPHICAL COMMENT AND SUGGESTIONS 

some phase of American history; to-morrow the need may be amply 
suppUed. The author beUeves that matters of selection in reading 
and study outside the text should be left to the teacher and the 
special needs of the class or the occasion. 

A partial list of authorities given below may prove suggestive 
or convenient to the teacher. General authorities: The American 
Nation (27 vols.), edited by A. B. Hart and prepared bj- a number 
of special writers, is one of the most comprehensive later histories; 
The United States (10 vols.), by Wiley and Rines, is useful on 
account of the publication of many original documents; reference 
has already been made to other general histories such as those 
by Aver}^ and Wilson; to these may be added such older authori- 
ties as Hildreth, Bancroft, and Winsor. Besides a great number 
of State historians, some of whom have been referred to in the 
text, there have been special writers on colonial history, such as 
Fisher, Beer, Thwaites, Osgood, C. M. Andrews, Fiske, Lodge, 
Tyler, Alice M. Earle, Palfrey, Parkman, Drake, and many others. 

The history of the United States under the constitution has 
been written by such general writers as McMaster, Henry Adams, 
Schouler, Hart, Channing, etc., constitutional questions have been 
treated by both Americans and Europeans, the latter incluchng 
such discriminating and acute observers as de Tocqueville and 
Bryce. Special writers have illuminated the history of the United 
States navy; others, such as Roosevelt, Hinsdale, Thwaites, and 
Turner, have written specially upon the development of the w^est- 
ern frontier; still others have engaged in the preparation of more 
accurate works on the development of the south. Upon the period 
involving the issues of secession and reconstruction, the list of 
writers is voluminous. In addition, the biographies of leading 
Americans are numerous, and many of the later ones are complete 
and accurate. Any publishing house will readilj^ furnish lists of 
its biographical or historical publications; and the author will be 
glad to communicate with teacher or pupil who might desire fur- 
ther particulars as to bibliography or special source works, or to 
answer any queries that may arise in the reading of the preceding 
pages. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I, Discovery and Exploration 1 

II. Early Settlements 11 

III. Beginnings of New England 26 

IV. Beginnings of the Middle Colonies and of the Carolinas 

and Georgia 39 

V. Virginia and New England — Continued 53 

VI. The Struggle for the Control of North America 65 

VII. The English Colonies Prior to the American Revolution 83 
VIII. Period of Controversy with the British Parliament. . . 92 
IX. Period of Controversy with British Parliament — 

Beginnings of Intercolonial Union 100 

X. First Period of the Revolution — Araied Resistance to 

Parliament 109 

XL Second Period of the Revolution — From the Defense 
OF Fort Moultrie to the Surrender of Burgoyne — 

Independence Declared 117 

XII. Third Period of the Revolution — From Saratoga to 

King's Mountain 126 

XIII. Fourth Period of the Revolution — From King's Moun- 

tain TO YORKTOWN AND THE TrEATY OF PeACE 137 

XIV. The End of the Confederation and the Formation of 

THE Federal Union under the Constitution 146 

XV. Establishing the Government — Administrations of 

George Washington 158 

XVI. Administration of John Adams — Defeat of the Federal- 
ists — Social and Economic Review 171 

XVII. Administrations of Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809; Terri- 
torial Expansion and the Tripolitan War 179 

XVIII. Administrations of James Madison, 1809-1817: War 

WITH Great Britain 188 

XIX. Administrations of James Monroe, 1817-1825: Period 

OF Growth 203 

XX. Administration of John Quincy Adams, 1825-1829: Divi- 
sion IN THE Democratic-Republican Party 215 

XXI. Administrations of Andrew Jackson, 1829-1837: The 
Spoils System — Nullification Issues Brought For- 
ward in Several States 220 

xiii 



xiv CONTENTS 

PAGE 

XXII. Administration of Martin Van Buren, 1837-1841: 
Financial Distress; Anti-Slavery Agitation; The 
Seminole War 228 

XXIII. Administrations of Harrison and Tyler, 1841-1845: 

Conflict between Tyler and Congress; Texas 
Applies for Admission into the Union 235 

XXIV. Administration of James K. Polk, 1845-1849: Annexation 

OF Texas and War with Mexico 240 

XXV. Administrations of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fill- 
more, 1849-1853: Gold Found in California 247 

XXVI. Administration of Franklin Pierce, 1853-1857: The 
Know-Nothing or American Party; Rise of the 

Republican Party 252 

XXVII. Administration OF James Buchanan, 1857-1861: The Dred 
Scott Decision; Lincoln-Douglas Debates; John 

Brown's Raid 257 

XXVIII. Administration of Abraham Lincoln: First Term, 1861- 
1865; The War of Secession — The Federal Govern- 
ment vs. THE Southern Confederacy — Campaigns of 

1861 ■ 266 

XXIX. Administration of Abraham Lincoln: First Term, 1861- 

1865; The War of Secession— Campaigns of 1862. ... 282 
XXX. Administration of Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865; The War 

OF Secession — Campaigns of 1863 297 

XXXI. Administration of Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865; The War 

OF Secession — Campaigns of 1864 306 

XXXII. Administration of Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865; The War 

OF Secession — Campaigns of 1865 — End of the War 316 

XXXIII. Administration of Andrew Johnson, 1865-1869; Conflict 

WITH Congress; Beginnings of Reconstruction 325 

XXXIV. Administrations of Ulysses S. Grant, 1869-1877: Condi- 

tions in the Southern States; International Arbi- 
tration; Corruption in the Federal Government . . 331 
XXXV. Leading Events from 1877 to the War with Spain 339 

XXXVI. From the Beginning of the War with Spain to the Pres- 
ent Time 358 

APPENDIX A : The Aborigines of North America 379 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

George Washington Frontispiece 

Columbus 1 

John Cabot 2 

Sir Walter Raleigh 12 

Landing at JamestowTi, 1607 15 

The Marriage of Pocahontas to John Rolte at Jamestown 20 

Pilgrim Monument at Provincetown, Mass., Overlooking First Anchoring 

Place of the " Mayflower " 28 

John Winthrop 31 

Old Harvard College (from etching by Paul Revere) 33 

Peter Stuyvesant Considering Summons to Surrender New Amsterdam. . 40 

Foot of Maiden Lane, New Amsterdam, in the Time of Peter Stuyvesant 42 

William Penn 43 

George Calvert 45 

Stone Showing Arms of Lord Baltimore, Marking the Mason and Dixon 

Line 46 

James Oglethorpe 51 

Puritan Costumes 61 

The Attack on Haverhill • 69 

Washington Presenting Governor Dinwiddle's Letter to Chevalier Legar- 

deur de St. Pierre, 1753 74 

Three-penny Note of Massachusetts 75 

General James Wolfe 78 

Virginia Costumes 83 

Title Page of Poems of Anne Bradstreet 84 

Title Page of Book of Quaint Verses Owned by George Washington 85 

Autograph of Anne Bradstreet 86 

Tooth Extractor 87 

Surgeon's Saw 88 

Colonial Stage Coach 89 

Patrick Henry .' 93 

Benjamin Franklin 96 

John Hancock 97 

Alexander Hamilton 104 

British Retreat from Concord 106 

Battle of Bunker Hill Ill 

XV 



xvi ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The Old State House, Philadelphia 118 

Washington and Lafayette at Valley Forge 127 

George Rogers Clark 130 

John Paul Jones 132 

General Nathanael Greene 134 

Treason of Benedict Arnold 135 

Battle of King's Mountain 137 

John Laurens 138 

Cornwallis's Headquarters at Yorktown 141 

Surrender of Cornwallis 142 

Watch Owned by George Washington 143 

Robert Morris 151 

Strong Box of Robert Morris 154 

George Washington Taking the Oath of Office at Inauguration as the 

First President of the United States, New York, April 30, 1789 161 

Anthony Wayne 166 

Abigail Smith Adams 167 

John Adams 172 

John Marshall 173 

Daniel Boone 175 

"Monticello," Albemarle County, Virginia; The Home of Thomas 

Jefferson 177 

Thomas Jefferson 180 

Washington in 1800 183 

Blowing up of the ''Intrepid" in the Harbor of Tripoli, September 4, 1804 184 

Meriwether Lewis 185 

The " Clermont," Designed by Robert Fulton, 1807 186 

James Madison 188 

Commodore Stephen Decatur 190 

Commodore Oliver H. Perry Changing Flagship in the Battle of Lake 

Erie, September 10, 1813 191 

Dorothy Payne Madison 195 

The Battle of New Orleans 196 

Capture of the British Frigate ''Macedonian" 198 

Model of the Frigate "Constitution" or "Old Ironsides" 200 

James Monroe 203 

Birthplace of Andrew Jackson 206 

Henry Clay 207 

The Savannah 211 

John Quincy Adams 216 

Signature John Adams in 1814 218 

Signature Charles Francis Adams, 2d, 1914 218 



ILLUSTRATIONS xvii 

PAGE 

Andrew Jackson 221 

John C. Calhoun 222 

Daniel Webster 226 

Martin Van Buren 229 

Drawing Showing Race between Peter Cooper's "Tom Thumb" Loco- 
motive and a Horse-drawn Coach on Parallel Track 231 

William Henry Harrison 236 

John Tyler 237 

James K. Polk 241 

Battle of Buena Vista 244 

Storming of the Fortress of Chapultepec 245 

Zachary Taylor 247 

Millard Fillmore 249 

Franklin Pierce 253 

Washington Irving 255 

James Buchanan 257 

Matthew Fontaine Maury • 258 

Birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, Hardin County, Kentucky 260 

W. H. Prescott 261 

Nathaniel Hawthorne 263 

Edgar Allan Poe 263 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 264 

Ralph Waldo Emerson 264 

Jefferson Davis 270 

Abraham Lincoln 271 

Winfield Scott 274 

George B. McClellan 276 

Camp Life and Drilling for Battle 278 

P. G. T. Beauregard .280 

Albert Sidney Johnston 285 

Engagement between the "Monitor" and the "Virginia," March 9, 

1862 286 

John M. Brooke 287 

Dead upon the Battlefield of Antietam 292 

Union Troops Crossing the Rappahannock Prior to the Battle of Freder- 
icksburg, December 13, 1862 294 

Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson 298 

W. S. Rosecrans 302 

Braxton Bragg 302 

George H. Thomas 303 . 

Explosion of a Shell in Fort Sumter during the Confederate Defense of 

Charleston Harbor 304 



xviii ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

J. E. B. Stuart 308 

William T. Sherman 311 

David G. Farragut Commanding his Flagship in Action 313 

N. B. Forrest 314 

Sidney Lanier 316 

Phihp H. Sheridan 317 

Jos. E. Johnston 318 

R. E. Lee 319 

Last Formal Reception Given at the White House by President Lincoln 320 

Final Bombardment of Fort Fisher, January 15, 1865 321 

Confederate Flags 322 

Andrew Johnson 326 

Alexander H. Stephens 328 

Ulysses S. Grant 332 

Sitting Bull 334 

General Custer in a Parley with the Indians 335 

Meeting of the Union and Central Pacific Railroads 336 

Rutherford B. Hayes 340 

James A. Garfield 342 

Chester A. Arthur 344 

Grover Cleveland 345 

Benjamin Harrison 347 

Salmon Fishing in Alaska 350 

Picture Illustrating the Use of the Steam Plow 351 

Cotton-ginning in Texas 353 

The Union Pacific Crossing Salt Lake; a Cut-off Twenty-seven Miles in 

Length 354 

Weaving " Tree Cloth " Used in Controlling Mississippi River Floods. . 355 

Wilham McKinley 358 

The \J. S. Battleship Maine Entering Havana Harbor 359 

Statue of Liberty at Entrance to New York Harbor 364 

A Wright Aeroplane 365 

Theodore Roosevelt 366 

A Modern Battleship of the United States Navy 370 

William H. Taft 371 

Bird's-eye View of Panama Canal Locks 373 

Woodrow Wilson 375 

The Capitol, Washington, D. C 376 

Col. George W. Goethals, Chief Engineer of the Panama Canal 377 

Indian Woman Weaving 379 

Indians Building a Canoe 379 

James Fenimore Cooper 380 



ILLUSTRATIONS xix 

PAGE 

Indian Pottery 381 

Indian Bow and Arrow 381 

Indian Quiver and Bow-case 381 

Indian Stone Implements •. 381 

William Gilmore Simms 382 



MAPS 

PAGE 

Map Showing First Voyage of Columbus and the Voyages of Cabot 3 

Map Showing De Soto's Route Westward 6 

New England and New Netherland 35 

The Middle Colonies 41 

Map Showing French, Spanish and English Claims Prior to Overthrow of 

the French 66 

Map of the French and Indian Campaigns 71 

English Territory after the French and Indian Wars 79 

Boston and Vicinity 110 

The New Jersey Campaign 1 20 

Burgoyne's Route 123 

War Map of the South during the Revolution 133 

Map Showing State Claims to Western Territory 149 

New Orleans and the Creek War 193 

Northern Battlefields of the War of 1812-1815 194 

Maps Showing War with Mexico and Scott's Campaign 243 

Battlefields of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania 277 

Battlefields of Kentucky and Tennessee 283 

McClellan's Campaign: Yorktown to Richmond 289 

Plan of the Battle of Gettysburg -299 

Grant's Vicksburg Campaign 300 

Grant's Campaign: Wilderness to Petersburg 307 

Sherman's March, Atlanta to Raleigh 312 

Panama Canal Zone 368 




HAWAII 
SLAXl 

i 160- 



Greenwich 



ike 
Winnipeg 




HISTORY OF 
THE UNITED STATES 



CHAPTER I 

Discovery and Exploration 

I. Origin of the English Claim to the North American Conti= 
nent. — The history of the United States may be said to have had 
its beginning on the fifth of March, 1496, when Henry VH granted 
to John Cabot a patent 'Ho seeke out" other islands or Henry vii's 
countries across the Atlantic, where, four years earlier, john'^Cabot! 
land had been discovered by Columbus. Cabot's ex- ^^^^ 
plorations were to be conducted in the interest of the Enghsh, 
whereas Columbus had made his discoveries 
under the patronage of Ferdinand and 
Isabella, King and Queen of Spain. 

Although Spain and Portugal, under the 
special sanction of the Pope, had already 
divided between themselves the whole of the 
New World, the shrewd English sovereign 
determined that England also should explore 
the unkno^vn waters in the west. It was this 
action of Henry VII that laid the founda- 
tion for English claims and settlements in 
North America. Fortunately for such an 
outcome, it had happened that Columbus in 
his various voyages had not touched the shores of the North 
American continent, but up to this time had discovered Discoveries 
only the islands to the southeast. These he had called °^ Coiumbus 
the West Indies in the belief that they were somewhere off the 
coast of Asia. No one seems to have suspected that a new con- 

1 




COLUMBUS 

From painting in the Ma- 
rine Museum at Madrid 



DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 



tinent and another ocean lay between western Europe and the 
eastern shores of Asia. 

With the hope, therefore, of finding a route to India, John 
Cabot set sail in May, 1497, in a small vessel, manned, it is said, 
by only eighteen men. Partly in order to keep at a good distance 
from the Spanish in the West Indies, who already had 



Discovery of 
the contin- 
ent of North 



the contin- entered a vigorous protest at the English court against 




America by his proposed voyage, he directed his course almost in a 

Cabot, 1497 -it ^ o ; 

straight line to the westward. After several weeks of 
sailing, he came in sight of land somewhere off the coast of what is 
now southern Labrador. Disembarking here early in the summer 
of 1497, he became thereby the first of the 
fifteenth-century explorers to set foot upon 
the shores of either continent of the New 
World. Here he set up the English flag 
and began an exploration in search of the 
''northwest passage to India." Finding the 
w^aters dangerous by reason of fields of 
floating ice, he turned homeward to tell the 
English of a great countr}^ to the west and 
north of the Spanish discoveries. Among 
other things, he told them of cod so plenti- 
ful in the waters that they impeded the 
progress of his vessel; and that it was nec- 
essary ''but to cast over a basket in which a stone had been put 
to draw up a great catch." 

In England, Cabot was forthwith acclaimed as "the great 

admiral" and was granted special favors and privileges, although 

, his immediate reward in money is set down in the note 

Results of "^ 

Cabot's first book of the thrifty king: "To hym that founde the 
new Isle, £10." But the real importance of his discov- 
ery lies in the fact that the English people came to feel that they 
had a share in the explorations of the New World, a fact which 
they never forgot and which led to their final control of North 
America. 



Averj^'s History 

JOHN CABOT 

From John Cassidy models, 
Manchester, England 



ORIGIN OF ENGLISH CLAIM 



This first voyage of John Cabot resulted in the fitting out of a 
new and larger expedition for exploration and discovery. Con- 
sequently, he was put in command of a little fleet of four or five 
vessels and granted a second royal patent of discovery under the 
English flag. Setting out in the spring of 1498, prob- „ 

^ ^ . . Second voy- 

ably accompanied by his son Sebastian, he again set age of John 
foot on the shores of the New World. This time he 
landed on the coast of Newfoundland, whence he turned north- 
ward a second time along the coast to seek the much-desired 



^Pt^^lp. .. 




MAP SHOWING FIRST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS AND THE VOYAGES OF CABOT 

northwest passage to India; but somewhere off the shores of 
Labrador, he again encountered perilous fields of ice and felt com- 
pelled to retrace his course to Newfoundland. From Newfound- 
land, he sailed southward for several weeks along the great and 
then unknown coast of the North American continent on a voyage 



4 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 

which has recently been called the "First American Coast Survey." 
It is not yet known just how far this survey or exploration ex- 
tended, but it now seems probable that Cabot touched upon or 
passed by the shores of the present Atlantic seaboard States from 
Maine to Florida.^ 

These discoveries of Cabot and the English in the north, un- 
like those of Columbus and the Spanish in the south, did not at 
once lead to settlement and colonization. Successive voyages 
Contrast be- by many seamen disclosed the fact that savage Indians 
ratio nT^'i'n dwclt in North America, and that there w^as not the im- 
£)°uth Tme?- rnediate prospect of gaining fabulous wealth in mines 
^""^ of gold or silver.' Perhaps it was fortunate that such 

was the case, for the English colonies that were finally established 
in North America were founded largely on principles of human 
rights, liberty, and individual freedom of endeavor; and the govern- 
ments erected by them were in these respects far in advance of the 
old-w^orld nations. Less hampered by ancient political customs, 
they reproduced and expanded English ideas under new conditions. 

^ We shoukl like to know more about this bold explorer, John Cabot 
(Giovanni Caboto). It now seems well established that, like Columbus (Chris- 
toforo Colombo), he was born in or near Genoa, that he later became a citizen 
of Venice, and that from there he went to England. 

Other similarities in the lives of these two great explorers are also of inter- 
est: in their day both belonged to that group of advanced thinkers who main- 
tained that the world was round and not, as generally believed, flat; they were 
both travelers, and both were endeavoring to discover a western route to 
India; although both came of a seafaring and commercial people, both were 
engaged in the service of a foreign country when they made their discoveries; 
both were brave and confident of their final success; and both were placed in 
command of skeptical crews inclined to mutiny or uprising. 

Unlike Columbus, however, Cabot did not succeed in securing assistance 
to become the first to brave the terrors of the unknown western seas. They 
were alike again in that both had their enemies and traducers; but Columbus, 
for the most part, encountered his detractors in his lifetime, while Cabot was 
belittled after his death; moreover, it has now been ascertained that one of his 
three sons, Sebastian, was crafty and unscrupulous, and that he probably 
obscured his father's achievements in order to magnify his own. 



SPANISH EXPLORATIONS 5 

2. Spanish Explorations and Attempted Settlements in North 
America during the Sixteenth Century. — Between the time of 
Cabot's voyages and the beginnings of permanent English coloni- 
zation, many important events took place in Europe, and numer- 
erous expeditions were sent out to explore the western seas. Up 
to the end of the fifteenth century the New World had not been 
named, unless we except the naming of the West Indies by Co- 
lumbus. What Cabot may have called the North American con- 
tinent we do not know.^ But between 1499 and 1503 still another 
Italian, Amerigo Vespucci (Ah-ma-ree-go Ves-poot- 

Onginof 

chee) , made a number of voyages to the south and west, the name 

, . 1 T 1 1 • America" 

His account of these explorations was published in many 
languages and led to namhig the new country after him. Hence 
the name ''America," at first applied to the southern half, came in 
time to be used for both continental divisions of the New World. 

At the end of the present chapter of exploration and discovery, 
there is given a reference list of a number of explorers in the em- 
ploy of the different maritime nations of Europe. Few of these 
attempted to establish colonies in North America, and the majority 
of them were European adventurers who sought immediate wealth 
in mines of gold and silver. Even De Soto, the boldest and most 
daring of them all, left no permanent impress upon the country 
which he traversed. However, because he penetrated farthest 
into the territory now embraced in the United States of America, 
the story of his expedition may be profitably compared and con- 
trasted with the more enduring efforts of actual colonists. 

While he was the Spanish Governor of Cuba, Hernando de 
Soto had heard tales of gold and silver mines in the interior of 
the North American continent that were similar to those already 

2 The name of Cabot has never been given a place upon the map of America. 
Cabot is the greatest of the pioneer seamen who is not so honored. Henry 
Harrisse, the compiler of voluminous reports from the original records of the 
earliest explorers, maintains that Cabot soon reached the conclusion that the 
new land was distinct from Asia. Cf. "The Discovery of North America," 
Book V, chapter 4. 



6 



DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 



exploited by his countrymen in the south. Impelled, therefore, by 
his desire for gain, he equipped an expedition consisting of several 
ships, six hundred men, and some two hundred horses. He landed 
on the coast of the present State of Florida in 1539 and marched 
, inland, battling with hostile Indians from the start. 

Expedition of . 

Rfn i^r?o ° ' Overcoming desperate odds of wilderness and warlike 

natives, he pursued an irregular course northward for 

five hundred miles (see map). Thence he turned and cut his way 




MAP SHOWING DE SOTO S ROUTE WESTWARD 



in a southwesterly direction almost to the Gulf of Mexico, near 
the present site of Mobile. Not despairing, however, of finding 
the promised riches, he again marched inland to the north and 
west, until he had crossed the Father of Waters, as the Indians 
termed the Mississippi, and had penetrated far into the present 
State of Arkansas. At last the endurance and faith of his men 



SPANISH EXPLORATIONS 7 

began to fail, and the expedition turned southward once more. 
On the return march De Soto died near the Mississippi River and 
was buried secretly in its waters. This was in May, 1542, after 
three years of continuous wandering in an almost trackless wilder- 
ness and through the midst of warlike Indian tribes. The rest of 
his band finally reached the mouth of the Mississippi in boats, 
and thence made their way to Mexico, which the Spaniards had 
conquered in 1521. 

Such, briefly, is the story of a daring adventurer's search for 
gold, a search almost equaled in extent and danger by the expe- 
dition of De Vaca (Da Vahcah) along the Gulf coast, and of Cor- 
onado in the west. Linked with these in the story of Spanish 
exploration is the expedition of the celebrated Ponce de Leon 
(P6n-tha da La-one), who sought, in the wilds of the New World, 
the realization of the old-world dreams of the fountain of perpetual 
youth. 

During this century (1501-1600), two Spanish expeditions and 
one English, the latter under command of Sir Francis Drake, 
first explored a portion of the Pacific coast. And it was during 
the latter part of the same century that the Spanish began to 
establish colonies within the lower limits of the present United 
States. The letters patent of discovery and settlement 
of Vasquez de Ayllon (Vahsketh da Hey one) are in- ^eVuTmlnt 
teresting in that they led to the temporary establish- k)n,?526^^^' 
ment of Spanish power far to the north of the other col- 
onies of Spain. De Ayllon first sent out vessels from the West 
Indies to explore the Atlantic coast north of Florida in search of a 
shorter passage to Asia than that discovered (1522) by Magellan 
through the strait that bears his name. The James River and 
Chesapeake Bay were explored in vain for a passageway. One 
expedition landed on the coast of South Carolina, gave an enter- 
tainment to the natives, and then kidnapped all who came aboard 
the ship. This act was disavowed by De Ayllon, who set out in 
1526 with six hundred men and a number of negro slaves to found 
a permanent Spanish colony. He landed on the coast either in 



8 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 

North Carolina or near the site of the later settlement of James- 
town, and built a town called San Miguel. The colony was not 
successful, and it was finally abandoned after three-fourths of the 
settlers had died from disease or Indian attacks. 

Had De Ayllon been successful in establishing a permanent 
settlement, the whole course of American history must have been 
different. In that event, the London Company that founded 
Jamestown could not have landed their colonists without declar- 
ing war on Spain, which James I would have been loth to do; and 
English settlement must have been at first restricted to the region 
north of the Potomac. 

Longfellow's attractive poem, "The Skeleton in Armor," will recall the 
stories of the legendary adventures of the Norsemen on the shores of the North 
American continent, nearly five hundred years before the landing of John 
Cabot in 1497. As will be recalled, Leif Ericson is the central figure of these 
legends of discovery. It is told in the sagas or Scandinavian stories of adven- 
ture that about the year 1000 he sailed from Norway to Iceland, and in con- 
tinuing his voyage to Greenland, discovered this continent, whither he con- 
ducted a number of expeditions. One legend tells of the Norsemen having 
wintered their cattle free from snow, from which it might be inferred that at 
least one party of them attempted a settlement farther to the south. In these 
sagas there are also narrated such remarkable stories of wild scenes and adven- 
tures that it is impossible to separate myth and imagination from what may 
be fact or history. It must also be borne in mind that these stories were 
written some two or three hundred years after the voyages thus described 
were undertaken. 



REFERENCE LIST OF PRINCIPAL EXPLORERS IN THE EMPLOY 

OF THE LEADING MARITIME NATIONS OF EUROPE, PRIOR 

TO PERMANENT SETTLEMENT IN NORTH AMERICA. 

(E. Enghsh; S. Spanish; F. French; P. Portuguese. For pronunciation of 

names see index.) 

1492. Columbus (S.) discovers the New World, landing in the West Indies, 
probably at San Salvador (Watling Island), on the morning of October 
12 (21, New Style). Columbus made other voyages and reached the 
South American continent in 1498. 



EUROPEAN DATES FOR REFERENCE 9 

1497-1498. John Cabot (E.) discovers the Continent of North America. See 
text. 

1500, 1501, 1502. Caspar and Miguel Corte-Real (P.), in three voyages, ex- 
plore northeastern coast. Both brothers perished, but their expedi- 
tions greatly stimulated the early fishing off the northeastern coast. 

1506. Denys (F.) discovers the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 

1513. Ponce de Leon (S.) names Florida peninsula and seeks the fabled 
"Fountain of Youth." 

1524. Verrazano (F.) explores the Atlantic coast. 

1526. De Ayllon (S.) attempts settlement in North America. (See text, p. 7.) 

1528-1536. Pamfilo de Narvaez and Cabeza de Vaca (S.) half-march and half- 
voyage along the southern coast from Florida to Mexico. 

1534-1535. Cartier (F.) explores the St. Lawrence River. 

1539-1542. De Soto (S.) sets out from Florida to explore the continent. (See 
text, p. 5.) 

1540-1542. Coronado marches from Mexico through several of the present 
southwestern States in search of "populous and wealthy cities." His 
expedition reached a point as far northeast as Kansas. 

Other discoveries and expeditions of special interest and importance in 
South America: 

1513. Balboa discovers the Pacific Ocean after crossing the Isthmus of Panama. 

1518. Cortes begins the Spanish conquest of Mexico. 

1519. Magellan sails through the strait that bears his name. (IMagellan was 

killed in the Philippine Islands, but one vessel of his fleet was the 
first to circumnavigate the globe, returning to Spain in 1522.) 

1543. Cabrillo (S.) explores the Pacific coast of North America. 

1561. De Villafane (S.) claims Carolina for the King of Spain. 

1576. Frobisher (E.) explores the northwestern waters of the Arctic Ocean in 
search of a passage to India. 

1579. Drake (E.) explores the Pacific coast. 

EUROPEAN DATES FOR REFERENCE 

1485-1509. Reign of Henry VII (England). 

1509-1547. Reign of Henry VIII (England). 

1547-1553. Reign of Edward VI (England). 

1553-1558. Reign of Mary (England). 

1558-1603. Reign of Elizabeth (England). 

1479-1516. Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella— to death of former— (Spain). 

1492-1503. Pontificate of Pope Alexander VI. 



10 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Compare the use of the term "patent" as applied to Henry VH's grant 
of the privilege of exploration to John Cabot with the governmental "patent" 
issued to protect an inventor. 

2. Imagine differences of development that might have ensued if Spain 
had maintained her claims to North America, or if Columbus had first landed 
on this coast. 

3. Discuss the political power of the Pope in medieval history w^th par- 
ticular reference to the division of the New World between Spain and Portugal. 

4. Cabot's reward for the discovery of a new continent was scarcely a 
liberal one in any event, but money was worth a great deal more at that time. 
Do you think that Henry VII realized the value of Cabot's discovery? 

5. Should Cabot's name be memorialized in the geography or history of 
North America? If you think it should, could you suggest any way of doing so? 

6. Read over the list of explorers given at the end of Chapter I and see 
if you are particularly interested in any of them and would like to look them 
up in a larger history or in some special account. 

7. Can you name any events of interest connected Vkdth the reigns of the 
sovereigns given on page 9? 



CHAPTER II 

Early Settlements 

3. Rival Claims of European Nations.— Although the Spanish 
and Portuguese had claimed the whole of the New World, the 
other European nations were not disposed to accept such a division 
without dispute. For example, Francis I, King of France, is said 
to have remarked sarcastically that if Father Adam had made a 
will to that effect, he (Francis) had not seen it. Henry VII, King 
of England, was less facetious but more practical. He ^^^ Spanish 
said little, but sent out John Cabot, because he prob- make first 

' ' per manent 

ably foresaw that actual discovery and the possession of f^"'^™^ J"^ 
the land was to be the final test of ownership by the Am^e r i c a, 
European nations. The time was not yet ripe, however, 
for English colonization; and the Spanish, who, together with the 
Portuguese, had acquired control of South America, were first 
successful in estabhshing a colony in North America. This they 
founded in 1565 at St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest settlement 
within the present limits of the United States.^ 

4. Sir Walter Raleigh Attempts English Settlement, 1585-1587. 
— In the meantime, both the English and the French were mak- 
ing profitable use of the great fishing banks off the northeastern 
shores of the continent, which had been discovered and described 
by John Cabot; but it was not until the reign of Ehzabeth that 
Englishmen began more seriously to consider the permanent set- 
tlement of America. The leading spirit in these plans of coloni- 
zation was the courtier, soldier, sailor, statesman, and author, 

1 A colony of French Huguenots had established a garrison north of 
Florida (within the limits of the present State of South Carolina) in 1562. 
This was abandoned; but another colony was founded in Florida in 1564, 
which in turn was destroyed by the Spaniards in 1565, the year of the founding 
of St. Augustine. The Spanish also founded Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1582. 

11 



12 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS 



Sir Walter Raleigh, whose career makes a most interesting page 
in English history. He hoped 'Ho plant an English nation" in 
America, and in 1584 he secured permission from Queen Elizabeth 
to make settlements upon territory not then occupied by a Chris- 
tian nation. Consequently, with his customary energy, 



North Amer 
Lea f i r s 1 
lied Vir- 



c 
ginia 



^ ' "" ^ ^ he set about equipping expeditions for the colonization 



of the North American continent, whose entire length 
Elizabeth called Virginia, in honor of herself as the virgin queen. 
He first sent out an exploring party, by whom a site was selected 
upon the coast of what is now North Carolina; and in 
iand"°cotony, 1585 the first colouists landed on Roanoke Island. 
These, however, fared so badly in the new land that 
they were glad to return to England with Captain Drake in 1586. 
Not discouraged by this failure, Raleigh sent out a stronger 
colony in 1587. This might have com- 
menced in North America the continuous 
history of English colonization had it not 
been for the beginning at that time of 
the momentous struggle with Spain which 
resulted in the complete defeat of the 
''Invincible Armada." When Raleigh 
again had an opportunity in 1590 to turn 
his attention to his American venture, his 
second colony had disappeared.^ 

Meanwhile Raleigh had exhausted his 
fortune in trying to establish the English 
in America; and, in addition, he had in- 
curred the disfavor of James I, who succeeded to the English 

2 It is not known what became of these settlers, although it is conjectured 
that they were either carried off by, or voluntarily absorbed in, a tribe of 
Indians. On August 18; 1587, a granddaughter was born to John White, 
first governor of the colony. Her name was Virginia Dare and she was the 
first child of English parentage born in America. Thomas Hariot, the inventor 
of the mathematical signs, +, — , i/, etc., accompanied the first expedition, and 
returned in safety to England "to prepare these and other algebraic horrors." 




SIR WALTER RALEIGH 



COLONIZING COMPANIES FORMED IN ENGLAND 13 



throne in 1603. Nevertheless, he had again set the minds of 
Enghshmen upon American colonization, which was to Results of 
be carried to a successful conclusion through the forma- J^ru ^^ ^ ^^' 
tion of powerful stock companies.^ 

In England, at this time, there was an excess of population 
and much distress among the people on account of the fact that 
many landowners had abandoned general farming for sheep "rais- 
ing, which required less labor. The necessity of providing for the 
people thus thrown out of employment led to redoubled activity 
in the plans of colonization. Preachers began to declare from their 
pulpits that God had opened a door for England in Virginia. 
These considerations led to the higher desire of finding permanent 
homes for Englishmen, rather than immediate wealth through the 
indiscriminate plundering of heathen natives. 

5. Colonizing Companies Formed in England. — In 1606 two 
great colonizing companies were organized, one at London and 
the other at Plymouth. To the London Company the 
king granted a place for settlement on the North Ameri- LCndon'^^and 
can coast from latitude 34° to 41°, or from about Cape romp™nies*^ 
Fear to the mouth of the Hudson River. To the Ply- 
mouth Company he granted settlement rights on the coast from 
latitude 38° to 45°, or from the Rappahannock River to northern 
Maine. These patents overlapped each other, with the under- 
standing that the company first settling upon the intermediate 
territory was to control it. At the same time, how^ever, it was 
provided that neither colony was to establish a settlement within 
100 miles of one already established by the other. 

Raleigh had secured a promise of a full measure of English 
liberty for the ill-fated colonists on Roanoke Island, and some of 
his ideas were embodied in the provisions of the charters granted 

3 The early English failures on the coast of North Carohna were followed, 
before the formation of the London and Plymouth Companies, by a similar 
lack of success in the north. In 1602 Bartholomew Gosnold attempted a 
settlement at Buzzard's Bay, Massachusetts, but the courage of the colonists 
gave out and they returned to England with a shipload of sassafras and lumber. 



14 EARLY SETTLEMENTS 

to both the new colonization companies, to the effect that the set- 
tlers were to enjoy all the political and civil rights and privileges 
that belonged to free Englishmen at home. Both corporations 
moved promptly in sending out expeditions. The colony sent out 
by the Plymouth Company failed, however (1607-1608); and it 
was not until 1620, under wholly different direction, that any 
permanent settlement was made in the northern territory. 

6. First Permanent English Colony in America, 1607. — The 
London Company, on the other hand, succeeded in establishing 
the first permanent English settlement in the New World. On 
December 30, 1606,^ the Sarah Constant (100 tons), the Good- 
speed (40 tons), and the Discovery (20 tons), sailed down the 
Thames for America. On board was a small company of 105 
emigrants prepared to make a home in an unknown wilderness. 
They knew that the natives were likely to prove hostile; and, what 
was worse, that the Spaniards, although not actively at war with 
England, would gladly seize the first opportunity to 
Sid^dangere put a vlolcut end to the settlement. They knew, also, 
takhig"'''^^'^' that both Spaniards and Englishmen had been attacked 
by the Indians in Virginia, and that a French colony 
had been destroyed by the Spaniards, who had proclaimed that 
other European nations attempting to colonize in North America 
would be regarded as intruders in their domains. 

No public demonstrations of godspeed and good wishes were 
given to the little band of departing emigrants. Their departure 
had to be made as secretly as possible, for Spanish ambassadors 
had vehemently protested against the establishment of British 
colonies in any part of America, and James I was fearful of open 
war. Many times, indeed, in the next few years, the emissaries 
of Philip III called upon their sovereign to ''give orders to have 

* Dates are given in modern or new style whenever such reckoning does 
not interfere with a well-estabUshed custom. It would be most unusual, for 
instance, to give the date of Columbus's landfall as October 21 (N. S.); as, 
on the other hand, it would be contrary to established custom to give George 
Washington's birthday as February 11 (O. S.). 



FIRST PERMANENT ENGLISH COLONY, 1607 15 

these insolent people annihilated before they became too strong."^ 
Michael Drayton, however, the English patriot-poet, bade the 
colonists go forth 

And in regions farre, 

Such heroes bring yee forth 

As those from whom we came 

As if all this uncertainty of success and well-known foreign 
hostility were not sufficiently disheartening to those who would 
venture their hves or their fortunes in the Enghsh colonization 
of the New WnrM, it must he recalled that the Great Plague of 




















Pi 


y^vt'-^'^^o*^. 










w w 


K 


-^gJM|| 


fc 


.^ 


^M 


,.e 


"'■^ 


■" "^ni. 


^' 



LANDING AT JAMESTOWN, 1607 

the seventeenth century had been raging in London, to the great 
distress of the people and the demoralization of business. In those 
days yellow fever was frequently contracted in the tropical islands 
that were stopping places on the voyage across the Atlantic; and 
the settlers were destined to encounter the even more terrible 



^ The Spanish ambassador, Gondomar, while unable to persuade Philip 
to declare war, was successful in cunningly arra3dng King James against the 
London Company, to the great injury of the latter. 



16 EARLY SETTLEMENTS 

malarial fever of the swamp lands on the coast, for which no rem- 
edies had then been discovered. Certainly the difficulties clearly 
seen by the colonists were enough to deter the boldest; yet they 
resolved to set out in the face of these and of other perils, none 
the less terrible because they were less well known. 

After a voyage occupying four months and more, the little 
fleet arrived, not at Roanoke Island as intended, but at the en- 
trance to Chesapeake Bay. Entering the bay, the col- 
the colonists, ouists Called the headlands on either side Cape Henry 
and Cape Charles in honor of the royal princes, while 
the river they first explored was named the James in honor of the 
king. Here, on May 24, 1607, on a low-lying peninsula about 30 
miles from the mouth of the river, was begun the first permanent 
English settlement in the New World, which the colonists called 
Jamestown.^ Rough log houses were at once constructed and a 
fort begun for protection against the Indians, some of whom had 
attacked the settlers on their first landing at the mouth of the 
Chesapeake. Wheat was promptly planted, clapboards were cut, 
and sassafras roots were dug for shipment to England. Accom- 
panying the colonists was the Reverend Robert Hunt, a minister 
of the English Church, who conducted the first religious services 
of the settlement under a sail spread beneath the trees. 

Up to the time of their landing, the colonists did not know who 
Communal had bccu appointed to be their governor, for the sealed 
system instructious of the king were not to be opened until 

they had arrived in Virginia.^ The governor thus appointed 

^ Such of the original records as have been preserved seem to indicate that 
the date of actual landing was the 14th (O.S.) instead of the 13th, as historians 
have generally given it. The Jamestown peninsula, an island then at high 
tide, is w^holly an island now. 

7 Among the niany details of procedure laid down for the guidance of the 
settlers, it is amusing to note that King James gave instructions that in case 
it was necessary to "fire their pieces" in the presence of the natives, they 
should be sure to select only their best marksmen, "for if they see your learners 
miss what they aim at, they will think the weapon not so terrible and thereby 
will be bold to assault you." 



FIRST PERMANENT ENGLISH COLONY, 1607 17 

proved to be Captain Edward-Maria Wingfield. Whether this 
choice was wise or not, the governor and his council had a difficult 
and perilous task before them; for, in the first few months, disease 
swept away half of the colony. In addition, the colonists were 
hampered by a prearranged plan of having all alike contribute to 
and draw from a common store. This arrangement tended to make 
the lazy or indifferent live at the expense of the more industrious. 
Nevertheless, in the midst of this suffering and death, which 
the crude remedies of those days were powerless to prevent, the 
colonists found time to write to their friends at home ^, 
of the ''tall and goodly trees," of the astounding plenti- of the coun- 
fulness of wild game, of flocks of ''pidgeons" that in fly- abundance 

^ 1 » -^ of game 

ing past obscured the sky, of the abundance of fish and 
oysters, of the wonderful breadth of water ''farre into the land" 
which, they said, was ''faire " to look upon and very fertile. More- 
over, records have been left to show that the settlers were active 
in carrying out the instructions of the London Council in search- 
ing for precious metals and in exploring the navigable rivers for 
the much desired passage to the Indian Ocean. 

One of the most active o'f these explorers was Captain John 
Smith. Smith was a soldier of fortune who had traveled over 
much of the Old World. He has left us tales of marvel- ^ 

Captain 

ous escapes from Turks, Hungarians, and Barbary John Smith's 

. connection 

pirates, many of which stories are now known to have with the coi- 
been not so much stories of his actual adventures as the 
inventions of a lively imagination. And, as we now believe that a 
great part of what he tells is untrue, we cannot fully trust his un- 
supported testimony on any matter. Especially is this the case 
when his narrative discredits his associates and the London Com- 
pany, in favor of himself and of King James's plan for absolute 
royal control of the affairs of the settlement.^ 

^ Smith landed in America under arrest subsequent to a mutiny on board 

ship, which he was accused of inciting. After his release, he was constantly in 

difficulties with the rest of the council, of which he was at times a member, and 

for a period president, by reason of a rule of succession provided for by the 

2 



18 EARLY SETTLEMENTS 

In the autumn of 1607, Smith and a small exploring party of 
colonists were ambushed and captured by the Indians. From this 
episode has sprung a romantic story which may or may not be 
true. As told by Smith in his later account, he was 
brought before the great Indian chief Powhatan and 
condemned to death. When his head was placed upon the block, 
Pocahontas, the favorite daughter of Powhatan, threw herself 
between him and the executioners and successfully pleaded for 
his life; whereupon Smith was released from captivity and allowed 
to return to Jamestown. 

During the following spring, after a severe winter. Captain 
Christopher Newport arrived with additional settlers. One of 
these new colonists was Anne Burras. Her marriage in the sum- 
Birth of vir- iner of 1608 to John Lay don was the first English mar- 
giniaLaydon j.[^^q ccrcmouy performed in the New World. The first 
child of this union was christened Virginia, which was the name 
given to the daughter of Eleanor Dare at Roanoke Island over 
twenty years before. 

In 1608 Captain Smith, in accordance with King James's pre- 
scribed order of succession, became president of the Virginia 
Council. He refused to appoint new councillors and 

Smith sue- . r- i • i • j.i • 

ceeds to the permitted no criticism of his management during this 
followed by period. In the spring of 1609 more colonists arrived, 
and a new settlement was established near the pres- 
ent site of Richmond. Troubles occurred with the Indians, and 
Smith was later injured by the accidental explosion of a bag of 
gunpowder. He then returned to England, and George Percy be- 
came his successor as president. 

king. For a long time the story as told by Captain Smith in his accounts of 
the settlement was accepted as almost the sole authority for our early history; 
but in recent years careful investigators have found clear evidence to shew that 
he left a narrative not only untruthfully favorable to himself but distinctly un- 
fair to his fellow-colonists, from which their deeds and memories have unjustly 
suffered up to the present time. Moreover, he was later in a position per- 
sonally to profit by writing discreditable reports of the first colony of Virginia. 



GROWTH AND EXPANSION OF JAMESTOWN COLONY 19 

The new settlers were not acclimated to the malarial fever of 
the warmer months, nor were any of them prepared for the ex- 
posure of the winter that followed, which was the most severe the 
colony had yet experienced. Help had been promised from Eng- 
land, but the vessels bearing the suppHes and colonists under Sir 
Thomas Gates had been wrecked in the Bermudas. When these 
new colonists finally arrived in May, 1610, in vessels they had 
themselves constructed in the West Indies, they found but sixty 
of the settlers left alive. Dismayed by this and by the lack of 
supphes, all determined to abandon Jamestown and set sail for 
England. Fortunately for English hopes, however, they were met 
a few miles down the river by three ships well supplied with pro- 
visions. Lord Delaware, the newly appointed governor The colony 
of Virginia, was in command, and all returned to James- lo/d^DeU^ 
town, where the fort and the houses had happily been ^^^^' ^^^^ 
left standing. Delaware fell upon his knees and thanked God 
that he had saved English settlement in America. 

As before stated, of all the colonists that had come over in the 
preceding years but sixty were now alive. Only the fittest had 
survived. In the struggle against malarial fever, each group of 
immigrants had to become acclimated, or hardened to the new 
conditions. Quinine was then unknowai, and for many years the 
mortality among the settlers seems almost incredible and more 
than enough to deter the boldest from ever attempting to brave 
the unaccustomed climate. Lord Delaware himself became dan- 
gerously ill not long after his arrival, and in 1611 he returned to 
England. He was succeeded by Thomas Dale,^ an industrious 
and painstaking, though tyrannical, soldier, whose efforts for the 
benefit of the colony were aided by important events in England. 

7. Growth and Expansion of the Jamestown Colony. — In 
London, at this time, the management of colonial affairs was 
passing into the hands of a council of some of the ablest and best 
men of the kingdom. Nearly all classes of the people were repre- 

^ Dale was technically only a deputy official. 



20 EARLY SETTLEMENTS 

sented. A new charter was granted the company, and the boun- 
daries of its territory changed to embrace two hundred miles to 
the north and to the south of Old Point Comfort ''up into the 
land throughout from sea to sea west and northwest." Further- 
more, many of the prerogatives of government which had formerly 
been assumed by the king were now taken over by the company. 
Thus its members were in a position to grant a large measure of 
civil liberty and local self-government to the colonies. ^^ 

Hence it may be stated that, with the exception of the set- 
backs occasioned later by sudden and disastrous Indian massacres. 




THE MARRIAGE OP POCAHONTAS TO JOHN EOLFE AT JAMESTOWN 

the colony was well started toward a steady growth under the 
direction of a sturdy band of Anglo-American pioneers. Governor 
Dale's rule was severely rigid, but he administered his office for a 
term of five years with general success. Hours of regular work, 
, worship, and administration were established. Each 

Communal c i i i • i i 

system aban- mau was givcn a plot of land to cultivate, and the 

doned, 1611 , ^ ^ ^ , n -i 

communal system set up under the nrst council was 

1° This charter was modified in 1612 to extend the powers of the Council, 
or, at least, to state them more specificaIl3^ It also included the Bermudas 
as a part of Virginia.. 



SELF-GOVERNMENT IN VIRGINIA 21 

definitely abandoned. Settlements were extended, each with its 
stockade of defense, and a prosperous tobacco culture was begun 
under the leadership of John Rolfe. Rolfe had suffered ship- 
wreck in the Bermudas, where his first wife and child died. He 
fell in love with Pocahontas, then held as a prisoner Marriage of 
or hostage by the colonists: and, after her Christian P^^^^o^t^s 
baptism, he was married to her in the English church at James- 
town.^^ 

8.,Self=government in Virginia. — Governor Dale's successor 
was Sir George Yeardley, who was a resident of the colony and 
therefore doubly interested in its development. Assisting him in 
his efforts to secure desirable settlers with families, the London 
Compan}^ succeeded in encouraging a substantial emigration to 
Virginia. A liberal measure of self-government was allowed to 
the colonists by the company, insomuch that it aroused the 
jealousy and hostility of King James. Political arti- jealousy of 
cles were now written, attacking, directly or indirectly, -^^"^^^ ^ 
the character and motives of both the company and the colony; 
and it is to the latter class of document that a part of Captain 
Smith's ''Generall Historic" is now seen to belong. Moreover, 
James I, believing, as did the Stuart sovereigns, in the divine 
right of kings, was as violentl}^ opposed to Sir Edwin Sandys, the 
moving spirit of this democratic view of government, as was 
Charles I to Hampden a few years later. 

These liberal instructions of the London Council led to the 
calling together in Virginia of the first representative legislative 
assembly in the New World, and marked the beginning ^.^^^ igaisia- 
of that love of self-government in America that was tive assem- 

. . . bly, 1819 

later to find expression in the fiery eloquence of Patrick 

Henry and the determined opposition of Samuel Adams and the 

patriots of thirteen separate colonies. This first American Assem- 

" Rolfe and the "Princess" Pocahontas visited England, where Poca- 
hontas was made much of by court and people. Pocahontas died in England, 
but her husband and little son returned to Virginia. 



22 EARLY SETTLEMENTS 

bly met at Jamestown, August 9, 1619, after the election of two 
delegates each from eleven plantations or parishes. 

Among the early acts of this assembly was the embodying of a 
resolution to the effect that, as the London Company insisted on 

approving the laws of the Virginia Assembly, the Vir- 
colonial girda Assembly should also pass upon the directions of 

the London Company. This foreshadowed the colo- 
nists' later resistance to the acts of the English Parliament when 
it later took upon itself the authority once exercised by the king. 
Another act of this assembly was in the nature of a petition 
to the London Company to send over carpenters to help build the 

College of Henrico, for which provision had already 
t h e f i r s t been made, and which became the first school in the 

school 

New World. ^2 Laws were also enacted imposing pen- 
alties for drunkenness and swearing, the latter being assessed at 
the equivalent of $5 to $10 for each offense. The wearing of fine 
apparel was also discouraged by an act compelling the wearer to 
give up his extraordinary raiment or to support the church in 
proportion to his display. 

The colony had outgrown its original bounds at Jamestown, 
and labor was needed for the development of the scattered but 
Indentured stcadily increasing farmlands. Indentured servants 
servants T^eve uow iutroduccd. These were bound out to service 
for a certain number of years and thereafter given their freedom. 
They were, in some cases, unfortunates out of employment at 
home, or failures in business oppressed by the extremely harsh 
laws of those days; or they were, in other cases, vagabonds and 

12 This school was endowed by Enghsh and colonial contributors' primarily 
for the education of the Indians in letters and Christianity, but the Indians 
themselves destroyed it in the general massacre of 1622. Here the first litera- 
ture of the New World was produced by George Sandys, treasurer of Virginia, 
and a nephew of Sir Edwin Sandys. It consisted of an excellent poetical 
translation of a portion of Ovid's Metamorphoses, the first edition of which 
was "imprinted" in London in 1626. A large sum of money w^as also collected 
for the establishment of a free school in the corporation of Charles City ; but . 
plans for this school were likewise cut short by the Indian massacre. 



SELF-GOVERNMENT IN VIRGINIA 23 

public charges. After their term of service had expired, some 
would buy small places for themselves, while others made their 
way, in time, to the mountain districts. 

In 1619 negroes were brought to Virginia from the West Indies. 
These were apparently not regarded as slaves, but were bound 
out to service after the manner of the indentured white importation 
servants. As in the case of the latter their services nel^roeT, 
were sold, but not their persons, under conditions that ^^^^ 
became general in the English colonies, which depended largely on 
such bond service for labor. The negro laborers were welcomed 
in the colony because it was known that they were accustomed 
to the heat of a southern climate and that they were generally 
immune to the malaria which had proved fatal to such a large 
proportion of Englishmen. Some of these negroes, at least, and 
possibly all of them, gained their freedom after varying periods 
of bond service. ^^ 

1^ Since this statement is at variance with the long-accepted assertion that 
slavery began in the Enghsh colonies at this time, some fm-ther explanation 
may be considered necessary. The foundation for that assertion lay in the 
use of the word "sold" attributed to John Rolfe, who (according to Captain 
John Smith) wrote that a "Dutch Man of Warre sold us twenty Negars" in 
August, 1619. But recent researches, chiefly under the auspices of the Depart- 
ment of History of the Johns Hopkins University, show that these negroes 
were received into the colony as indentured servants. The early court records 
indicate that slavery was a later development arising naturally, in the case of 
an inferior race, from the bond service of the first importations. In 1619 
slavery was not recognized in English law or in the laws and customs of Vir- 
ginia; and although previously referred to in Virginia court records as in exist- 
ence, slavery was not regulated by statute law until 1661, several years sub- 
sequent to such sanction in Massachusetts (1641) and Connecticut (1650), 
and prior to such recognition in Maryland (1663) and the other colonies. 
The "Dutch Man of Warre" was probably one of the Enghsh ships engaged 
in preying upon Spanish commerce. For the greater part of this new and 
interesting information upon this subject, the author is indebted to the re- 
searches of Dr. J. C. Ballagh, formerly of the Johns Hopkins University, and 
to Dr. John H. Russell, of Allegheny College. (See Ballagh: "A History of 
Slavery in Virginia," and Russell: "The Free Negro in Virginia," 1913.) 



24 EARLY SETTLEMENTS 

REFERENCE LIST OF EARLY ATTEMPTS AT SETTLEMENT IN 
NORTH AMERICA TO 1607 (JAMESTOWN) 

(S. Spanish; F. French; E. Enghsh) 

1540-1543. Cartier and Roberval (F.): Canada. 
1583. Sir Humphrey Gilbert (E.): Newfoundland. 
1562-1565. Ribault (F.): South CaroHna. Seep. 11, footnote. 
1585-1587. Raleigh (E.): North Carolina. See p. 11. 
1602. Gosnold (E.): Massachusetts. See p. 13, footnote. 
1607-1608. Popham Colony (E.): Maine. See p. 14. 



EARLIEST SUCCESSFUL SETTLEMENTS IN NORTH AMERICA 

1565. St. Augustine (S.). See p. 11. 

1582. Santa Fe (S.). See p. 11, footnote. 

1604. Port Royal (F.), Nova Scotia, 1604; abandoned 1607, but resumed 

in 1610. 
1607. Jamestown, Virginia (E.). See text. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. What Spanish settlement had been attempted in North America before 
that at St. Augustine? (See p. 7.) 

2. The text refers to Sir Walter Raleigh as "courtier, soldier, sailor, 
statesman, and author." Which one of Sir Walter Scott's novels refers par- 
ticularly to Raleigh? Any English history or encyclopaedia will tell you more 
about him. As a rule, he spelled his name Ralegh, especially after 1585; but 
custom has sanctioned the better known spelling as given above. 

3. Perhaps you would enjoy writing, for your English composition class, 
an imaginative story of the lost colony of Roanoke. Perhaps Powhatan and 
Pocahontas had heard of Virginia Dare and what had become of her. 

4. Compare the voyage of the Sarah Constant, the Goods-peed, and the 
Discovery with that of a modern steamship. Try to remember the names of 
the vessels that brought ove to the New World the first permanent English 
colony. 

5. We should like to know more about Wingfield, Captain Gabriel Archer, 
George Percy, Ratcliffe, and the other leaders of the Jamestown settlement. 
Smith says little about them except in a slighting manner and in order to 
magnify the narrative of his ow^n achievements. 



ENGLISH DATES OF INTEREST 25 

6. After the lapse of nearly three centuries, one of the boy soldiers serving 
in the War of Secession (Alexander Brown) lived to find out more than any 
one else had found out about the Jamestown colony. Perhaps some student 
of this history will some day add a great deal to Mr. Brown's discoveries. 

7. It may be asked how it happened that the London Company's emi- 
grants spent Christmas Day on board ship when the text states that they 
embarked on December 30. This is explained by the fact that, under the Old 
Style reckoning, they started December 20. In reckoning time, the variation 
between the seventeenth century and the present amounts to ten days. 



ENGLISH DATES OF INTEREST 

1588. Defeat of the Spanish Armada. 

1603. Elizabeth is succeeded by James I; Union of England and Scotland. 
1609. Independence of the Netherlands conceded by Philip III of Spain. 
1609. Expulsion of the Moors from Spain. 



CHAPTER III 

Beginnings of New England 

9. Attempts at Settlement. — In the preceding chapter men- 
tion was made of the formation in 1606 of the London and the 
Plymouth companies. The latter purposed estabhshing what 
Failure of was callcd the ''Second Colony of Virginia." The pro- 
c o r*Jfn^J! moters of this Second Colony equipped an expedition 
1607-1608 "vvhich began a settlement on the Kennebec River in 
the summer of 1607, but it suffered severely from exposure in the 
winter that followed their landing. Consequently, the colonists 
abandoned the settlement and returned to England in 1608. 
They declared that no Englishman could live in that part of the 
New World. 

The report of these colonists was discouraging to settlement 

in the region assigned to the Plymouth Company. Captain John 

Smith, however, explored the northern coast in 1614, 

Naming . 

New Eng- and gave to that part of the coast the name it has since 
retained — New England. Smith wrote an alluring de- 
scription of the country in order to attract settlers to that region. 
In this he was unsuccessful, for settlement was to be made some 
years later on different lines from those that would have been 
laid out by Captain Smith or by the early supporters of the Ply- 
mouth Company. 

10. Religious Unrest. — In England at this time there had 
arisen a large body of people who declared that the changes made 
in the religious observances during the sixteenth century had not 
gone far enough. They were cUssatisfied with the forms and ritual 
of the English Church and wished to simplify its services or to 
withdraw from the church. But the English Church was estab- 
lished by law and associated with the government. Few, if any, 
of the people had as yet thought of such a thing as religious liberty 

26 



PILGRIMS SET OUT FOR AMERICA 27 

in the sense that any one might hold or teach such rehgious views 
as he thought proper. Those who wished to simpHfy the govern- 
ment and ceremonies of the Anghcan Church, and thus ''purify" 
it, were called Puritans. Those who thought a new separatists 
church should be established were called Separatists or ^^^ Puntans 
Independents. These Separatists, followed later by the Puritans, 
were destined to begin the settlement of New England, and to lay 
the foundations of several comparatively small but concentrated 
and powerful communities. 

11. Separatists or " Pilgrims " Emigrate to Holland. — In 1608 
a number of Separatists had fled from religious persecutions to 
Holland. In Holland, the Pilgrims, as they came to be called, 
were able to enjoy a greater measure of religious freedom than 
they could have secured under any other government at that time; 
but they felt that they were in a foreign country and that their 
children would gradually drop their English speech and would 
take up the language, religion, and customs of the Dutch. 

Accordingly, these resolute people began to consider their re- 
moval to the shores of America. First they succeeded in getting 
from the liberal London Company a large tract of land p 1 1 g r i m s 
between the Delaware and Hudson rivers. Sir Edwin f'f"oT'Yt 
Sandys, the great patron of American colonization, ^"^^"^'^ 
drew up a provisional plan of government for them. But Sandys 
and the London Company had incurred royal disfavor, the Pil- 
grims' means had given out, so that, after unsuccessful overtures 
to the Dutch, they finally accepted the hard terms of some English 
merchants, who agreed to provide transportation and early main- 
tenance for the equivalent of seven years' bond service and division 
of profits. King James would grant the colonists no charter, but 
in this respect the outcome seems to show that they were better 
off without one from such a ruler. 

12. Pilgrims Set out for America. — Consequently, prepara- 
tions were forthwith begun in Holland for the departure of some 
of the Pilgrims in the Speedivell. These set out in July, 1620, and 
were met at Southampton, England, by another body of Separa- 



28 



BEGINNINGS OF NEW ENGLAND 




lists in the MayUoiver. After several trying delays, both vessels 
set sail for America; but the captain of the Speedwell (60 tons 
burden) alleged that the smaller vessel was unseaworthy. Both 

the ships then put in at Ply- 
mouth, and the Mayflower (180 
tons) set out alone for the New 
World. On board were the crew 
and 102 passengers, '^some of 
whom," ran Bradford's chron- 
icle, "were not tempered alto- 
gether to godliness," but " shuf- 
fled in upon us." Thirty-seven 
of these passengers were of the 
Separatist colony in Holland, 
where was left the majority 
with their excellent pastor, 
John Robinson; while the 
emigrants were under the 
spiritual leadership of William 
Brewster. 

13. The Pilgrim Settlement 
in New England. — After a 
tempestuous voyage the colo- 
nists reached the shores of 
America, not within the limits 
of the grant of the London 
Company, as they had in- 
tended, but at Cape Cod, in 
New England. At first they 
started southward along the 
coast to the land their patent 
indicated (New Jersey), but 
this was deemed impracticable. 
Hence, in the latter part of November, the Pilgrims held a meet- 
ing on board the Mayflower and drew up a solemn ''compact" 





PILGRIM MONUMENT AT PROVINCETOWN, MASS. 

OVERLOOKING FIRST ANCHORING PLACE 

OF THE MAYFLOWER 



PILGRIM SETTLEMENT IN NEW ENGLxiND 29 

and plan of self-government that is remarkable both for its sim- 
phcity and comprehensiveness. They agreed to make such laws 
as were needful for the good of the colony and all agreed The compact 
to be bound by them. John Carver was chosen as the first 
governor. 

After exploring the coast for a convenient harbor, the colonists 
selected Plymouth^ as the place for permanent settlement. Here 
they landed on the 21st of December, 1620, and began ^ ,. 

•^ 111 T^andmg of 

the construction of shelter from the pitiless cold and the Pilgrims, 
storms of the winter. As at Jamestown, the following 
spring found more than half of the colonists dead from exposure 
and disease. Among these was Governor Carver. Apparently 
not a whit discouraged, the colonists elected William Bradford 
governor and prepared to build more houses. Other leaders were 
the soldiers, Myles Standish and William Brewster. 

It was perhaps fortunate for the colonists that, prior to their 
landing, a plague had cut off a large number of the Indians. With 
those that remained, however, a treaty was made in 1621 which 
remained unbroken for half a century. These neighboring Indians 
were the Wampanoags, whose chief was Massasoit. Canonicus, 
however, chief of the Narragansett Indians to the west, sent the 
settlers a bundle of arrows tied in a snake skin. Bradford imme- 
diately returned the skin filled with powder and shot. This the 
Indians knew was the white man's ''thunder and lightning," and 
Governor Bradford's bold and ready reply convinced Canonicus 
that peace was the better policy. 

In the first few years the Pilgrim colony grew but slowl}^ The 
returns from agriculture were particularly uncertain; for the set- 
tlers, like those at Jamestown, suffered from the ill communai 
workings of a system for holding products and property abandoned! 
in common. But in the spring of 1623 each family ^^^^ 
planted for itself, and all, "even the women and children," set 
about to till the crops, which in that year were abundant. So 
successful were the settlers that they soon began to supply the 

1 So named by Captain John Smith in his map of the New England coast. 



30 BEGINNINGS OF NEW ENGLAND 

Indians with their own maize or corn in return for furs and pro- 
ducts of the chase. 

Continued trouble with the Enghsh supporters of the colony held 
back the greater part of the Separatist congregation in Holland, 
as money could not be had for transportation. The establishment, 
however, a few years later, of the Puritan colony at Massachusetts 
Bay greatly helped the Plymouth settlement, for in ten years there- 
after it had multiplied tenfold and numbered three thousand souls. 

14. Emigration of the Puritans. — Before taking up the history 
of the Massachusetts Bay settlement, it is necessary to refer again 
to events in England. In 1625 Charles I came to the throne and, 
in addition to an inherited opposition to the Puritans, he had a 
special objection to parliaments as a check upon royal power. A 
large part of those who opposed his views in church and state 
were the Puritans, who in a political sense, at least, were gaining 
supporters daily through the high-handed policy of the king. 

Encouraged by the example of the Separatists and by the 
success of the other settlements in the New World, they set about 
John Endi- forming plans for colonization in New England. The 
first p"uHtan fi^st Puritau scttlcrs to emigrate were a small body un- 
coiony, 1628 ^^^ j^Ym Endicott, who established a colony at Naum- 
keag in 1628, which they called Salem. At this time a number of 
prominent Puritans bought from the Plymouth Company a tract 
of land between the Charles and Merrimac rivers, which extended 
westward without limit. 

15. Puritan Self=government. — After Charles's dissolution of 
Parliament in 1629, a charter was secured from him to incorporate 
a company called the Massachusetts Bay Company. Whatever 
may have been Charles I's errors of government in England, he 
should in this matter receive some credit, because the charter he 
granted the Massachusetts Bay Company was a liberal one, secur- 
ing to the colony a remarkably large measure of self-direction. 
The settlers were given the right to elect their own governor and 
council, the latter being free to make the laws of the colony, pro- 
vided such laws did not conflict with those of England. The 



PURITAN SELF-GOVERNMENT 31 

council was to be elected annually. The place, however, where 
the corporation meetings were to be held was not indicated in the 
charter. Taking advantage of this, the company de- The first 

great in- 

cided to take the charter over to New England, where crease in 
they would be less likely to be interfered with in their i63o 
plans of government.- In 1630 eleven ships, bearing nearly 1000 
persons, under the leadership of John Winthrop, arrived at 
Salem; and during that year many new settlements were begun, 
including Boston, at first called Trimountain or Tremont because 
of the triple crown of its principal hill. 

It has been asserted by some authorities on New England his- 
tory that the Pilgrims were the precursors of religious R e i i g i o us 
liberty, and it is probable that if the Pilgrims had Pilgrims 
been left to work out their own development they might have 
become the actual founders of religious 
freedom. They were, however, absorbed or 
controlled by the Puritans. The latter were 
quite as intolerant of those who differed from 
them as the authorities in England of whom 
they had complained. In New England they 
declared themselves independent of the Eng- 
lish church, and one of their first acts was 
boldly to send back to England such persons 
of the Anglican faith as had come over with 
them, two of whom they publicly accused of 
conspiracy to establish the Church of England in the Puritan colony.^ 

2 It should be recalled here that the London Company had been seriously 
handicapped by King James, and it was finally dissolved in 1624. Perhaps 
the Massachusetts Bay Company, in removing their charter to New England, 
profited by the experience of the London Company. In addition, King Charles 
was doubtless glad to get this body of Puritans out of his way. 

^ It should be remembered that in Virginia Episcopalians did not allow 
religious liberty to those who differed from them. A Puritan there was not 
welcome; the Virginia government was merely not so violent in its acts of 
exclusion. It remained for Maryland (1634) and Rhode Island (1636) to lead 
the colonies in the matter of religious toleration. 




32 BEGINNINGS OF NEW ENGLAND 

All persons in the various settlements were compelled to attend 
religious services. The church buildings were bare and without 
Puritan stovcs, the members of the congregation bringing with 

seventy them hcatcd stones or hand stoves. The congregation 

was separated within the building. The boys sat on the pulpit 
stairs and in the gallery under the stern eye of the constable, who 
rapped them sharply over the head if they w^nt to sleep during 
the sermon, which was generally from three to four hours long. 
The girls and young women had special seats assigned to them, 
and, if they were found napping during the services, their faces 
were tickled by the tail of a rabbit fastened on the other end of 
the constable's stick used in rapping the boys. No one was per- 
mitted to work or to amuse himself in any manner on Sunday, 
which at one time was strictly observed for a day and a half. 
Punishments for infractions of these rules were severe and con- 
sisted in fines, whipping, or public exposure in the stocks.^ 

The minister of each parish was elected by the members of the 
congregation, which body was the same as that which transacted 
the business of the community. In the latter case it was called a 
town meeting; for the Puritans, like the Pilgrims, were determined 
upon self-government from the beginning. Participation in the 
government was, however, limited to members of the Puritan 
church or congregation. All others were for many years excluded 
from voting or from the full privileges of citizenship. 

16. Education. — Nevertheless, in the midst of this narrowing 
constraint, the Puritan Fathers planned a system of education 
which was eventually to broaden the views of their children and 
to enable them to exert great influence in spheres far beyond their 
own communities. Thus it was that, among the earliest acts of 

^ The laws of the other colonies were much more lenient, in both political 
and religious matters. Governor Dale's administration in Virginia furnished, 
however, an exception, and during his term of office (1611-1616) one of his 
articles of government provided for the punishment of swearing by having a 
bodkin thrust through the offender's tongue for the second offense and death 
for the third. 



EARLY CONTENTIONS OF THE PURITANS 33 

the Puritans, preparations were made for an extended scheme of 
secular and rehgious education. In 1636 a college was planned at 
Newtown, which, two years later, received a bequest in the will of 
John Harvard. The town was called Cambridge, while the col- 
lege was named after the donor of its first endowment. Harvard 
College grew into Harvard University, the oldest institution of 
learning in this country. 



7^ 



i>- 




OLD HARVARD foi.i.KiiK ( t n iiii ( ■ t (hing by Paul Revere) 

Although the first English literature of the New World had 
been produced at Jamestown by George Sandys, the first printing 
press was set up at Cambridge in 1639, and in 1640 First printing 

^ ^ ^ ' press in the 

there was printed on it the Bay Psalm Book, the first colonies, i639 
English book published in America, and from this time on New Eng- 
land led the middle and southern colonies in printing and publishing. 
17. Early Contentions of the Puritans at Home and with the 
Mother Country. — The colonists of New England had enemies to 
contend with both at home and abroad. At home they created 
hostility to themselves by the persecution of those who differed 
with them, although it must be remembered that in those days 
such persecution was held to be right and proper. In addition to 
this warfare against the ''ungodly" or ''seditious" among them- 
selves, they stoutly prepared, on at least one occasion, for a possible 
conflict with the mother country, when Charles I planned to annul 
their charter and divide up the land among his courtiers. Forts 
were built and militia was got in readiness; fortunately, however, 
3 



34 BEGINNINGS OF NEW ENGLAND 

Charles at this time had enough trouble at home without provok- 
ing conflict with the American colonists. 

Religious disputes disturbed the growing Puritan colony al- 
most from its founding. There were a number of settlers who were 
dissatisfied with the limited plan of government laid down by the 
Puritan authorities. The most noted of these dissenters was 
Roger Williams, who had been for some time pastor of the church 
at Salem. He w^as a remarkable man and entertained views far 
in advance of the time in which he lived. Among other things 
^., he declared that land in America could not rightfully 

Roger Wil- to ^ 

liams driven bc granted by the king without the consent of the In- 

from the Pu- ^ *^ ^ 

ritan colony, dians whosc property it originally was. He also main- 
tained that a man was responsible for his religious 
opinions to God alone, and that ''no one should be bound to wor- 
ship or to maintain a worship against his consent." The former 
theory seemed to attack the verj^ charter of the Massachusetts 
colony, and the latter directly denied the civil authority of the 
all-powerful Puritan theocracy, or government through the church. 
This last view, especially, the authorities at Boston would not 
tolerate, and preparations were made to send Williams to England. 
But when Captain John Underhill arrived at Salem in the winter 
of 1636 to secure the person of the dissenting pastor, Williams had 
escaped into the wilderness. 

Braving starvation and exposure, he made his way south to 
the home of the Narragansett Indians, who became his fast friends. 
He procured from them a tract of land upon which, in 1636, he 
_ . . began to build. He called the site Providence, and 

Beginnings 

of Rhode Is- this was the beginning of the colony of Rhode Island. 
In the same year that Roger Williams fled from Salem, 
another noted disputant began in Boston to teach doctrines that 
were obnoxious to the Puritan authorities. This disturber of the 
Puritan church was Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, who, with her fol- 
lowers, was later driven out of Boston. Mrs. Hutchinson and 
some of her adherents bought land from the Indians and founded 
the towns of Portsmouth and Newport, also in Rhode Island. 



DUTCH DRIVEN OUT OF NEW ENGLAND 



35 



18. The Dutch Driven out of New England. — The 3 ear that 
saw Roger WiUiams lead the way in the colonization of Rhode 
Island also saw the bednnin^s of Connecticut. The Beginnings 

^ '^ of Connecti- 

Dutch had laid claim to the western half of the future cut, i636 

English colony and had threatened war if their claims were 

not respected. These threats 

the English Puritans wholly 

disregarded. Governor Win- 

throp's son sent an expedition 

which secured the mouth of 




NEW ENGLAND AND NEW NETHERLAND 



the Connecticut River and thus made untenable a Dutch fort 
above. Hartford was among the towns first founded in the new 
region thus opened for settlement. Its leading spirit was Thomas 
Hooker, a Puritan pastor, who maintained that all the people 
should have a part in the government and not a limited few. He 



36 BEGINNINGS OF NEW ENGLAND 

upheld a complete democracy as against the established religious 
theocracy of Massachusetts Bay.^ 

19. Indian Wars. — The new colony was soon called upon to 
face a dangerous Indian war. In fact, the probability of the alli- 
ance of several of the tribes endangered all the outlying settlements. 
The Pequot Indians had been accused of murdering isolated set- 
tlers in the Connecticut Valley, and John Endicott was sent 
against them in 1636. His course served only to arouse them to 
open hostility. Settlers were ambushed, captured, and, in many 
cases, burned alive or tortured in other ways. The Pequots fur- 
ther sought alliance with the numerous and powerful Narragan- 
setts. The prospect was so alarming that appeal was made by 
Massachusetts to the exiled Roger Williams at Rhode Island, 
who, at the risk of his life, struck out alone through the snow and 
wilderness to the Narragansett camp-fire. Here he encountered 
the Pequot emissary and argued successfully against him in hold- 
ing the friendship of the Narragansetts. 

In the spring the colonists prepared for a decisive blow. A 
force of several hundred Englishmen and friendly Indians sur- 
Pequot indi- prised the largest of the Indian forts. The encamp- 
ans defeated j^gj^^ ^^^ attacked before dawn, and, after the two en- 
trances were seized by Captains Mason and Underhill, firebrands 
were thrown into the wigwams. These were soon in flames and 
nearly four hundred Indians were shot down, while the attacking 
party lost fewer than the number of Indians who escaped. This 
victory of the settlers was overwhelming and the Pequots were 
finally driven out of Connecticut. 

20. Summary. — It has been seen that by 1640 there were a 
number of sturdy settlements on the New England coast. First 
there was the Plymouth colony from Holland and England, com- 

* Hooker, like Williams, was well ahead of the times in which he lived, 
and he should be honored accordingly. The Connecticut settlement came, in 
time, to be dominated by the extreme Puritan influence of Massachusetts 
Bay, and these colonies united later in the severest condemnation of the course 
of the Providence and Newport plantations, with respect to religious toleration. 



SUMMARY 37 

paratively weak in numbers but strong in its faith to fight and 
win. Then there followed the Massachusetts Bay colony of 
English Puritans, of less liberal views than the Pilgrims, but more 
numerous than the former and sternly resolved to dominate and 
control. There then followed the establishment of Rhode Island 
under the liberal religious guidance of Roger Williams, after which 
came the beginnings of Connecticut under the leadership of 
Thomas Hooker and others. Besides these there were Maine and 
scattered settlements in Maine and New Hampshire, fh?^ Settle- 
In the latter colony the followers of Mrs. Anne Hutch- ™^''*^ 
inson had established settlements. Massachusetts claimed that 
these and the settlements in Maine were under her jurisdiction, 
and from time to time she made good her claims, especially in 
Maine, which was acknowledged as a part of the Massachusetts 
Bay colony for many years. 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. When did the Dutch Netherlands become independent? See dates at 
end of Chapter II. Would the Pilgrims have been safe in the Netherlands if 
that country had remained under Spanish control? 

2. Note the resemblance between the name Speedwell (the vessel carrying 
the Pilgrims from Holland to England) and the Goods-peed, one of the three 
vessels that bore the settlers to Jamestown. Note also that almost the same 
number of settlers were on board the larger Mayflower as were in the three 
vessels that set out for Jamestown. Compare the tonnage of the vessels. 

3. Why did the communal system (the plan for equal division of increase 
among all) fail in both colonies? 

4. OutHne the distinction and the differences between the Pilgrims who 
settled at Plymouth in 1620 and the Puritan colony of Massachusetts Bay, 
begun eight years later. 

5. Discuss the similarities of, and the differences between, the colonies 
in Virginia and in New England, w4th reference to settlement, manner of 
living, social customs, religion, education, self-government, etc., etc. 

6. In 1625 James I died and was succeeded by Charles I, his son. Forth- 
with began the great political and religious troubles that led to Puritan emi- 
gration until Charles I was beheaded and the Puritans and Presbjrterians 
controlled Britain. (Subject for study and review.) 



38 BEGINNINGS OF NEW ENGLAND 

7. Note the following accounts of the sufferings of the early colonists, 
the first being taken from an account written by George Percy at Jamestown 
during the summer of 1607: "The sixt of August there died John Asbie. 
The ninth day died George FlowTe. . . The tenth day died William Bruster 
gentleman, of a wound given by the Savages. . . The fourteenth day, 
Jerome Alikock, Ancient [Ensign], died of a wound; the same day Francis 
Mid- winter, Edward Moris Corporall died suddenly. . . Our men were 
destroyed with cruell diseases. . . and by Warres, and some departed 
suddenly, but for the most part they died of meere famine. There were never 
Englishmen left in a forreigne Countrey in such miserie as wee were in this 
new discovered Virginia." At Plymouth Bradford WTote of the terrible first 
winter following the landing of the Pilgrims: ''But it pleased God to vissite 
us then, wdth death dayly, and with so generall a disease, that the living were 
scarce able to burie the dead; and the well not in any measure sufficiente to 
tend the sick." 



CHAPTER IV 

Beginnings of the Middle Colonies and of the 
Carolinas and Georgia 

21. Dutch and Swedish Colonization in North America; Set= 
tlement of New York and New Jersey.— Between the dates of the 
Jamestown and the Plymouth settlements, Henry Hud- ^^ , , 

^ ' *^ Hudson s ex- 

son, an Englishman m the service of the Dutch East pIo rations, 

India Company, sailed up the river that bears his name. 
This was in 1609 and his vessel was named the Half Moon. He 
did not find a northwest passage to India, for which he w^as search- 
ing, but he did carry back a cargo of valuable furs. Hudson's ex- 
pedition marked the beginning of a profitable Dutch and Indian 
trade. This trade led, in turn, to the establishment of Dutch 
settlements as far north as the present site of Albany and to the 
south as far as the present county of Camden in New Jersey. 

The most important of these Dutch settlements was that 
on Manhattan Island, established in 1623. A few years later. 
Governor Peter Minuit bought the whole island from jManhattan 
the Indians for some beads and ribbon worth about $24. bought^ from 
The settlement was called New Amsterdam, while the ^^^"^ i^^^^^^ 
entire region was called New Netherland. 

A Dutch West India Company was organized to trade and to 
establish colonies in America. Each member of the company who 
brought into the colony fifty settlers was given an estate 
with a frontage on the water sixteen miles in length, 
and extending back into the country indefinitely. On this estate, 
the ''patroon," as he was called, exercised a power not unUke that 
of the barons of feudal times. 

The governors sent out by the company were severe rulers, 
who had little sjrmpathy with government by the people. One of 

39 



40 MIDDLE COLONIES, CAROLINAS AND GEORGIA 



them, William Kieft (1638-1647), provoked the Indians to an 
attack which nearly overwhelmed the New Amsterdam colony. 
Peter Peter Stuyvesant (1647-1664) succeeded William Kieft, 

stuyvesant ^^^ ^^g ^^iq last and most noted of the Dutch gov- 
ernors. He is said to have ''stumped around with a wooden leg 
and a violent temper." He had no tolerance either for popular 

government or for those whose 
religious views differed, from the 
tenets of the Dutch Reformed 
Church, The company, how- 
ever, overruled him in religious 
persecutions and directed him 
to allow all persons to worship 
as they pleased. 

Stuyvesant fortified Man- 
hattan against the attacks of 
the Indians by building a pali- 
sade entirely across the island, 
along the line of the present 
Wall Street, and in 1655 he 
marched against the Swedes 
who had settled on the Dela- 
These he compelled to 
submit to Dutch authority, and 
''New Sweden" became a part of New Net her land. 

In 1656 New Amsterdam contained about 1000 inhabitants. 
Many of these were traders from every part of Europe, and it was 
said that as many as eighteen languages were heard in 
New Am- the strccts of the new settlement. Negroes had been 
imported, but these did not thrive as well with the 
Dutch as with their English neighbors in the south. They caused 
the colonists considerable trouble in subsequent uprisings and 
were severely punished. 

The English at Jamestown and in the New England colonies 
did not look with favor upon the claims of the Dutch to American 




By permission of the New York Historical Society 



PETER STUYVESANT CONSIDERING SUMMONS TO WarC. 
SURRENDER NEW AMSTERDAM 



DUTCH AND SWEDISH COLONIZATION" 



41 



territory. We have already seen that the Puritans in the Connecticut 

colony calmly disregarded the Dutch claimants there. Complaints 

of Dutch encroachment were carried to England from America, arid 

m 1664 a British fleet was sent to New York by Charles New a m- 

II. When it demanded the surrender of New Amster- comls"^N^w 

dam, old Peter Stuyvesant stood alone in the desire ^°'"^' ^^^* 

to resist. The English secured control without striking a blow, 

and the Dutch 

settlements 

were merged in 

the British 

possessions.^ 

Charles II gave 

the province to ■ 

his brother 

James, Duke of 



York, after whom a part of it was 
named, as was also the town of New 
Amsterdam. The Dutch patroons 
were left in undisturbed possession 
of their estates, but the governors 
were appointed by the British king. 
In 1638 Swedish colonists founded 
a settlement on the Delaware Bay 
within the present limits of Wil- 
mington. They called the towii 
they began to build there Christiana, in honor of their queen, and 
the country was named New Sweden. These settlers were indus- 
trious and enjoyed undisturbed possession for nearly Swedish set- 
twenty years. Then, as we have seen, their existence ^^^'^^'^^^ 
so close to New Netherland aroused the opposition of Peter 
Stuyvesant, who compelled their surrender to the Dutch. The 




THE MIDDLE COLONIES 



1 Peter Stuyvesant continued to live on Manhattan Island, and died in 
1682 at his home farm, called ''The Bowerie." 



42 



MIDDLE COLONIES, CAROLINAS AND GEORGIA 



settlement continued as a part of the Dutch colony until it in 
turn was brought under British control and became a separate 
colony. 

In 1664 the portion of New Netherland that lay between the 
Hudson and the Delaware was granted by Charles I to two court 
New Sweden favorites, Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. The 
New Jersey latter had been governor of the island of Jersey on 
the coast of England, and the province was called New Jersey. 



% 




FOOT OF MAIDEN liANE, NEW AMSTEBDAM, IN THE TIME OF PETER STL YVESA.NT 

Carteret established a settlement (Elizabethtown) in what is 
known as East Jersey, and in 1676-1677 William Penn and other 
English Quakers founded a settlement in West Jersey. Later 
Penn bought Carteret's proprietary rights in East Jersey, and 
settlers came in considerable numbers from both Great Britain 
and New England. In 1702 East and West Jersey were united 
in one royal province. 

22. Beginnings of Pennsylvania. — The reference to William 
Penn in the preceding paragraph leads to the story of the founda- 




BEGINNINGS OF PENNSYLVANIA 43 

tion of the colony named in his honor, although Penn himself 
wished to name it New Wales. Penn was a Quaker and therefore 
at variance with the religion of court and state^ but he seems to 
have been well liked by Charles I, who, moreover, owed the Penn 
family a large sum of money. This debt Charles II agreed to settle 
by granting Penn a patent to the country lying to the west of Dela- 
ware Bay and somewhat indefinitely described as extending from 
a point twelve miles north of Newcastle (Del- 
aware) to the source of the Delaware River. 
Westward the colony was to extend for five 
degrees of longitude. By the terms of the 
charter, Penn was made proprietor with power 
to appoint all officers, but all laws passed by 
the colony were to be submitted to the king. 
It was declared also that the British govern- 
ment could levy taxes within the colony. 

This charter and grant were secured by 
Penn in 1681, and at Chester in the follow- william i-rnn 

ing year the new proprietor established the principles of govern- 
ment for the colony under the name of the "Great Law." One 
provision distinctive of this ''Great Law" was the re- p f- n n ' s 

"Great 

striction oi the death penalty to two crimes, murder Law" 
and treason. Another provision was to the effect that prisons 
should be made workshops and institutions of reform. Both of 
these ideas were clearly in advance of contemporary law in the 
mother country. 

William Penn felt, as did the Calverts in Maryland and Roger 
Williams in Rhode Island, that despite the grant of the land by 
British authority, he did not own it until he had bought „ , , , 

'^ ' ^ Penn s treaty 

it from the natives. He therefore, June 23, 1683, made with the in- 

' dians 

a treaty of peace with the Indians, securing from them 

not only a title for the land but their friendship, which lasted 

as long as Quaker rule in Pennsylvania.^ 

2 A distinguished French writer (Voltaire) has said that "It was the only 
treaty never sworn to and never broken." 



44 MIDDLE COLONIES, CAROLINAS AND GEORGIA 

Penn's later life was anything but a peaceful one. He sailed 
for England in 1684, and eight years later was imprisoned for a 
time on suspicion of his being in sympathy with the deposed king, 
James II. He returned to Pennsylvania in 1699 to find a pros- 
perous colony and a people clamoring for greater privileges. Many 
of these he granted in a new constitution and returned again to 
England in 1701. But he was unable to collect rents due from 
settlers in the province, and for a while was imprisoned for debt. 
Finally, as he was about to dispose of his province to the crown, 
he was stricken with disease, and died in 1718. During the Rev- 
olution the State of Pennsylvania purchased from Penn's heirs 
their interest for six hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 

The southern boundary of Pennsylvania caused a long-con- 
tinued dispute with the previously established colony of Mary- 
Mason and land. Finally, the line was fixed at 39° 43' instead of 
Dixon's line ^j^^ fortieth parallel, as at first drawn in Penn's charter. 
This modified boundary gave Pennsylvania an accession' of terri- 
tory and an outlet to the ocean. The boundary line was drawn 
in 1764-1767 by two surveyors named Charles Mason and Jere- 
miah Dixon, and, after them, was called Mason and Dixon's Line. 
Later it became a line of demarcation between the northern and 
the southern States. 

23. Settlement of Maryland. — Mention of the origin of Mason 
and Dixon's line leads to a consideration of the settlement of the 
neighboring proprietary province of Maryland, which was es- 
tablished a number of years before the colonies immediately to 
the north of it. 

Early in the seventeenth century, George Calvert, a gentle- 
man of Yorkshire, was made an Irish nobleman as Lord Baltimore. 
George Cai- Calvcrt was a Roman Catholic; and the Roman Catho- 
RomrnCath- Hcs, like the Puritans and the Quakers, were subjected 
one colonists ^^ restrictions or persecution under the dominance of 
the Church of England. Calvert sought, therefore, a colony in 
the New World where those of his own faith would be freed from 
the disabilities imposed upon them by the English law of that 




SETTLEMENT OF MxVRYLAND 45 

time. Lord Baltimore attempted to establish such a colony in 
Newfoundland as early as 1623. This proved a failure, and in 
1629 he tried to colonize a number of his followers at First boun- 

. . - - . . d a r i e s of 

Jamestown, but the Virgmians declared agamst receiv- Maryland 
ing them. After considering the southern coast for a time, he finally 
succeeded in securing a grant from Charles I to the reo;i()n north 
and east of the Potomac River, south of the 
fortieth parallel, and extending westward to 
the source of the Potomac. The new prov- 
ince was named Maryland in honor of Queen 
Henrietta Maria. George Calvert died in 
1632, but the enterprise was taken up by his 
son and heir, Cecilius Calvert, the second 
Lord Baltimore, and by Leonard Calvert. 

Lender his charter Lord Baltimore was 
given royal powers in the province. He Avery s History 
could wage war, coin money, levy taxes, george calvert 

establish courts of justice, and even grant titles of nobility, his 
authority being limited only by the colonial assembly. Charter pro- 

rr^i 1 1 .1 1,1 . . vides for self- 

The charter also contamed a remarkable provision to government 
the effect that the people and their property should be forever 
exempt from taxation by the king. 

In 1634 Leonard Calvert arrived in Maryland with about 
three hundred settlers, a large proportion of whom were Protes- 
tants. The first landing was on St. Clement's Island, but the 

colonists later established their first permanent settle- First settle- 
ment at St. 
ment on the mainland after Leonard Calvert had Mary's, i634 

formally traded with the Indians for the possession of the land 

and the purchase of an Indian village, which he named 

St. Mary's. 

The most noteworthy provision of Lord Baltimore for the 

direction of the new colony was with respect to religious toleration, 

which was assured to all Christian settlers regardless of Religious toi- 

eration es- 

sect. This freedom of religious opinion was in practice tabUshed 
extended to Jews also, so that Maryland has the honor of being the 



46 MIDDLE COLONIES, CAROLINAS AND GEORGIA 

first colony in America to establish the principles of religious tol- 
eration, which Roger WilPams pronounced independently in Rhode 
Island two years later. The actual practice of religious toleration 
was followed by the formal passage of an ''Act Concerning Re- 
ligion" enacted by the Maryland Assembly in 1649.^ 

Lord Baltimore was not destined to main- 
tain his authority in the new province 
without a struggle. Members of the former 
London Company in England and some of 
the colonists in Virginia felt that the giv- 
ing away of Maryland by the king had 
infringed upon their original patents to 
the same territory. Moreover, many Vir- 
ginians felt a sense of injury because the 
new settlers, who had not borne the hard- 
ships of pioneers, were granted greater 
commercial privileges than they themselves 
were enjoying. The chief objector was Wil- 
LORD BALTIMORE, MARKING liam Claibomc, sccrctary oi the colony oi 
THE MASON AND DIXON LINE Virginia. Claibomc, for some years prior to 
the grant of Maryland, had been conducting a profitable fur trade 
with the Indians. He had also established trading posts as far 
up the Chesapeake Bay as Kent Island. Backed, therefore, by 
Confiict with considerable sentiment in the governor's council of Vir- 
ciaiborne ginia, Claibomc refused to acknowledge the authority 
of Lord Baltimore and prepared for resistance. The result was a 
struggle for the mastery, in which Claiborne was worsted in the 
first encounter. Perhaps a majority of the Virginians sympathized 
with the claims of Claiborne, but Governor Harvey turned Clai- 
borne out of office and appointed in his stead Richard Kempe, 
one of the friends of Lord Baltimore. 

Puritans were received as settlers by Lord Baltimore under 

3 This Toleration Act of 1649 has led to confusion as to the real origin of 
religious toleration in Maryland. The act fell short of Lord Baltimore's own 
ideals at the founding of the colony and it imposed penalties on non-Christians. 




SETTLEMENT OF NORTH CAROLINA 47 

more liberal provisions than were granted them in Virginia. They 
came, therefore, in large numbers and settled at Providence 
(Annapolis). In 1654, during Cromwell's protectorate ^ . , , 

. , Period of 

m England, they set up a new form of government, re- Puritan su- 

cj / premacy 

pealed the Toleration Act of 1649, and oppressed the 
Cathohcs. A battle took place on the Severn River in which the 
supporters of Lord Baltimore were defeated. Shortly afterwards, 
however, the whole matter was brought before Cromwell and a 
compromise reached, whereby Lord Baltimore regained his author- 
ity and the Toleration Act was restored. 

Further religious trouble arose in 1689 on the accession of 
William and Mary. It now came about that the king and the 
Anglican or Episcopal Church got control of the prov- Period of An- 
ince and the adherents of the Anglican Church secured tlT\ nSer 
the passage of legislation taxing all the people for its ^^^ ^'°^' 
maintenance. Finally, some time after the fourth Lord Balti- 
more had become a member of the Anglican Church, proprietary 
rights were restored to the Calverts, until they were set aside at 
the beginning of the American Revolution. 

24. Settlement of North Carolina. — The beginnings of per- 
manent settlement within the limits of the present State of North 
Carolina were in the nature of a transplanting from Virginia in 
1653. In that year a number of settlers entered the region be- 
tween the Roanoke and Chowan rivers, many of whom emigrated 
from Virginia because of religious differences with the government 
of that colony. This was the beginning of what came to be known 
as the Albemarle settlements. 

At this time the whole of the coast, from the borders of Vir- 
ginia to the Spanish colony in Florida, was unoccupied. This 
territory, from the southern boundary of Virginia (36° 30') to the 
31st parallel and westward to the Pacific, Charles II , 

Lord s-pro- 

granted to eight lords-proprietors, one of whom was the prietors of 

. . . the colony 

noted loyalist. Sir William Berkeley, then governor of 
Virginia. Shortly afterwards a plan of government for the pro- 
posed colony of Carolina was written out by a famous English 



48 MIDDLE COLONIES, CAROLINAS AND GEORGIA 

philosopher, John Locke, who went back mto the feudal ages to 
get what he called the ''Grand Model" for all the English colonies. 
This '' Grand Model " provided liberally for the proprietors. Under 
its terms an order of American nobility was to have been estab- 
lished, but it left the masses of the people few privileges and little 
or no self-government.^ 

The ''Grand Model" was prepared in 1669 and brought over to 
the Carolinas, but it was found that it was one thing to write a con- 
The colonists stitutiou iu England and quite another to enforce it in 
seTf-gov^?n° America. The Carohnians would have none of it, and, 
^^^^ few as they were, they were ready to fight against the es- 

tablishment of any such unequal scheme of governpient. The result 
was that the "Grand Model" was never put into complete opera- 
tion, and as nowhere else in America was there such an autocratic 
government proposed, so it happened that nowhere else was there 
a stouter and more continuous resistance to tyranny and unjust 
taxation than in Carolina under a succession of proprietary rulers. 

From the first, when it was seen that the Carolinians were not 
going to submit to autocratic government, settlers poured into 
the colony. In 1667 the Albemarle settlements numbered several 
thousand persons. The climate was found to be pleasant and the 
soil fertile. A brisk trade was begun with the New England 
Rapid colonies. Several proprietary governors were deposed 
fhe°new^coi- ^ud cxpellcd by the people, who from time to time 
°"^ set up their own government until they were assured 

of redress for their grievances. In 1G88 the people banished 
Governor Seth Sothel, a particularly offensive official, who was 
succeeded by Philip Ludwell of Virginia. The province at this 
time became known as North Carolina. 

25. Beginnings of South Carolina. — Southern Carolina, which 
became later the separate colony of South Carolina, was first 

* One good provision, however, of this unusually autocratic form of govern- 
ment was to the effect that "No person, whatsoever, shall disturb, molest 
or persecute another for his speculative opinions in religion, or his way ol 
worship." 



BEGINNINGS OF SOUTH CAROLINA 49 

permanently settled by the English in 1670, when William Sayle 
brought over a body of Puritans from the Bermudas. These 
landed at Port Royal, but soon removed to a more secure harbor 
at the mouth of the Ashley River. Here they founded Charleston, 
named in honor of Charles II. The Spaniards pursued the new 
arrivals in order to drive them out, but the skilfully fortified 
position appeared too formidable for successful assault and the 
invaders retired without accomplishing anything. 

The new settlement soon began to thrive with the accession 
of both English and French-Huguenot colonists. The immiKration 
latter had been driven out of France by religious guenots 
persecution. Being thrifty and industrious, they contributed 
greatly to the prosperity of the province. 

Like the colonists in northern Carolina, the South Carolinians 
were forced into almost continual resistance to the oppressive 
acts of selfish proprietary rulers; and, like their neighbors, they 
would, on occasion, drive out these governors and secure a fuller 
measure of popular rights. Besides these struggles conflict 
with the proprietors, the early Carolinians were eager prk!ta?ygov- 
to fight the Spaniards to the south of them. This the ''°°'"' 
proprietors endeavored to prohibit, but privateering against 
the Spaniards was carried on in spite of the governors. These 
adventures and the general disregard of the monopolistic 
navigation acts added greatly to the wealth of the colony, 
so that by the beginning of the eighteenth century Charleston 
was noted for its commercial prosperity and the culture of 
its people. The struggle against the proprietors reached its 
climax in 1719, when the people rose up and proclaimed James 
Moore as their governor under a special constitution. In 1729 
South Carolina became a royal province, in accordance with a 
petition from the people to put an end to the proprietary form 
of government. 

By the beginning of the eighteenth century the Spaniards, 
realizing their inability to prevent the English colonization of 
4 



50 MIDDLE COLONIES, CAROLINAS AND GEORGIA 

North America, began to admit the British claims to the greater 
part of the continent. The Hne of boundary between their Florida 
settlements and South Carolina was, however, a matter of dis- 
pute with the English for many years. The Spaniards claimed 
Trouble the territory as far north as the Savannah River, 
Sh^and^lS- although they made no effort to colonize the inter- 
^^^^^ vening territory. In 1715 they incited the Yemassee, 

Creek, Cherokee, and Catawba Indians to attack the English; 
but the Carolinians, under the leadership of Governor Craven, 
met the Indians and defeated them. 

26. Settlement of Georgia. — This continual border warfare 
with the Indians and the hostility of the Spaniards led the 
^ , , Carolina colonists to regard with favor the scheme 

Oglethorpe 

of General James Edward Oglethorpe to settle the 
border ground as the colony of Georgia. Oglethorpe was not 
only a soldier, but a member of parliament and a man of 
wealth. He was also a philanthropist and a thinker in advance 
of his times. 

In England, at the time of the founding of the American colo- 
nies, and for many years thereafter, any man who failed in business, 

even if it was through no fault of his own, was thrown 
unfortunate into prison if he could not pay his debts. Honest men 

debtors n . , i , i i i 

out of prison could hope by hard w^ork to pay their 
debts. In prison they could hope neither for payment nor release. 
Moreover, these unfortunate debtors were a burden upon the 
state. Oglethorpe now proposed to release those of good character, 
transport them to the new colony in America, and give them an 
opportunity to begin life anew. No nobler idea was ever con- 
First settle- ceived, and Oglethorpe himself led the first colony of 
ment, 1733 ^20 emigrants. These landed in 1733, eighteen miles 
from the mouth of the Savannah River, where they first gave 
thanks to God for their safe arrival and renewed hopes, and began 
forthwith to build a settlement which they called Savannah. 
Forts were constructed for protection against attack by Spaniards 
and Indians. With the latter, however, Oglethorpe succeeded 



SETTLEMENT OF GEORGIA 51 

in making a treaty of peace and secured from them a title to land 
as far south as the St. John's River. 

Oglethorpe also made provision for Christianizing the natives^ 
and, in 1736, when he returned to Georgia from England, he 
brought with him John Wesley to preach to both colonists and 
Indians. Wesley was much impressed by the faith and courage 
of the settlers. Later, he returned to England and ^ , . 

Preaching of 

became the founder of the Methodist Church, which wesiey and 

Whitefield 

was first established m that country. Another great 
Methodist evangelist, George Whitefield, followed Wesley into the 
colony in 1738. He crossed the Atlantic six times in the next twelve 
years and traveled through the English 
colonies from Georgia to Massachusetts. 
Whitefield, together with the pastor 
of some German colonists, advocated 
the introduction of negro slaves into 
Georgia on the ground that it was good 
for the negro to be redeemed from 
barbarism and slavery in Africa and 
brought therefrom to a greatly improved 
condition of servitude under Christian 
influence in the New W^orld. Further- 
more, James Habersham, a distinguished J-^^'^s oglethorpe 
colonial leader, maintained that southern settlements could not 
prosper without negro slave laboi , as the white man could not 
withstand the malarial fevers of the swamp lands. Consequently, 
negro slaves were brought into the colony under ^ ^ ^. 

* 1 Introduction 

certain restrictions.^ Besides the settlers brought of siave.^ into 

ine colony- 
over under the direction of Oglethorpe and the 

trustees of the colony, a number of Germans, Moravians, Scotch 

Highlanders, and Puritans from New England settled in the 

midland and the upper country. 

5 Whitefield founded an orphan asylum near Savannah in 1741, raising 
money therefor by preaching in England and by the sale of crops grown on the 
plantation, which he profitably farmed through his slaves. 




52 MIDDLE COLONIES, CAROLINAS AND GEORGIA 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Compare the price set upon Manhattan Island by the Indians with the 
cost of a single New York skyscraper of to-day. What is the extent of Man- 
hattan Island? How far has the city outgrown it? Imagine Peter Stuyvesant's 
return to New York to-day. Cf. Irving's Rip Van Winkle. The purchasing 
power of Peter Minuit's $24 was four or five times as great in 1626 as it is 
now; but the realty of Manhattan Island was in 1913 assessed at more than 
$5,000,000,000, an amount too great for the mind to grasp. 

2. Supposing that Lord Baltimor'e had been able to hold to his original 
northern boundary (the 40th parallel), would Philadelphia have been built 
as a Maryland city, or would its site have been farther north? 

3. Since a great deal of space cannot be given to the story of the estab- 
lishment of each colony, should you not like to look up some special matters 
connected with the colonies which most arouse your interest? Perhaps you 
could, from your own reading, add much of interest to the recitation. 



ENGLISH DATES FOR REFERENCE 

1603-1625. Reign of James I. 
1625-1649. Reign of Charles I. 
1642-1649. Civil War in England. 



CHAPTER V 

Virginia and New England — Continued 
part i. virginia 

27. Indian Massacre in Virginia, 1622. — We left the story of 
the first EngUsh colony at the beginning of its expansion, in order 
to tell of the beginning of twelve other colonies on the North 
American coast. We now return to the narrative of the first 
colony on the eve of the greatest single calamity which befell it; 
namely, the Indian massacre of 1622.^ 

The first greeting of the Indians to the English in Virginia 
had been an attack upon the latter at their landing. These south- 
ern Indians may have become hostile to all white men because of 
their experience with the Spaniards, who had dealt roughly with 
them. At any rate, the most powerful Indian tribes in Virginia 
were unfriendly in their attitude toward the English from the 
beginning of their settlement; and they were really at Indian hos- 
peace with the colonists only upon the marriage of ^^^^^^ 
Rolfe with Pocahontas and during the latter 's lifetime thereafter. 
Except for this brief period, the Indians under Powhatan and his 
crafty brother, Opechancanough, were ever threatening the col- 
onists. From time to time settlers were ambushed and killed, 
and there were counter attacks by the colonists. The climax of 
trouble did not come, however, until after the death of Powhatan. 

In 1621, friendly Indians on the eastern shore of the Chesa- 
peake warned the colonists of a proposed plot to destroy in one 

^ This division of colonial narrative would be subject to proper criticism 
from the standpoint of an extended history, but in these pages it seems to 
present the best possible plan. For instance, to pursue the story of the first 
colony from its founding to the transition period under the British Common- 
wealth would seem to over-emphasize the colony of Virginia, even if its story 
were connected with that of Maryland. 

53 



54 VIRGINIA AND NEW ENGLAND 

day all the settlements of the English. Governor Yeardley at once 
got the plantations in a position of defense, and accused Ope- 
^, ^ ,. chancanough of this design. That chieftain, however, 

The Indians o o ; 7 

attack the earnestly protested innocence, and the English were 
lulled into a sense of security until the full blow fell on 
the first of April, 1622. On that day, early in the morning, all the 
settlements for 140 miles on either side up and down the James 
River were attacked while the colonists were at their work, in 
house or field. Neither age nor sex was spared, and women and 
children were murdered with tomahawk and gun. Two things 
saved the colony from possible annihilation. One of these was 
the timely warning given to some of the colonists by Chanco, an 
Indian convert to Christianity, and the other was the protection 
afforded a few of the eastern settlements by the friendly In- 
dians of the Eastern Shore. 

The full list of the killed was never published. Scores of the 
settlers perished without being able to defend themselves, while 
many of them had entertained their Indian foes at breakfast on 
the morning of the massacre.- 

The massacre was a terrible blow to the growing colony, but 
the survivors seem not to have become disheartened. With aid 
The surviv- from the London Company, they at once prepared to 
dme ^b"ack avcngc the death of their countrymen. We have no 
the savages <-ig|;j^jig(^ accounts of their expeditions against the 
Indians; but, despite a number of ambushes on the part of the 

2 One of the killed was George Thorpe, the special friend of the Indians, 
and the manager of the property of Henrico College, designed for the education 
of the natives. He had recently built a house for Opechancanough, which 
seemed greatly to please that chieftain, who took "special delight in the lock 
and key." Another victim of the massacre was a Mayflower emigrant, and 
it is interesting to learn that the Jamestown survivors sent a ship to the 
Plymouth colonists in the north to warn them against any similar attack. 
The Virginia ship also brought timely provisions to the Pilgrims, "or some had 
starved" to death. Another sudden Indian massacre took place in April, 
1644; but shortly afterwards the settlers' implacable enemy, the aged chief- 
tain, Opechancanough, was captured. 



VIRGINIA OPPOSES PARLIAMENT 55 

natives, the settlers were successful in driving the savages before 
them, and in destroying their villages and crops. 

28. The Colonists in Conflict with James I and Charles 
I, 1624-1642. — It was fortunate for the colony that it was by 
this time vigorous enough to stand alone; for in 1624 James I 
demanded the surrender of the charter of the London Company 
and gave orders that the latter be dissolved. The king disliked 
the independent spirit both of the company and the colony, and 
he prepared to put the colonists wholly under royal direction. To 
this end, he set about making a code of laws for Virginia, but 
died in the midst of his work. He was succeeded by Charles I, 
who, while equally opposed to popular government, became too 
busy with difficulties at home greatly to trouble the self-govern- 
ment of the colonies in America. In fact, when the Virginians 
showed their independence of action in deposing Governor 
Harvey in 1635 because of the latter 's high-handed dealings 
with the people, Charles I did not feel able to take definite action 
against the colonists, although he later, for a brief period, restored 
Harvey to the governorship. 

The events that followed in England had an important bear- 
ing upon the colony in Virginia. When the Puritans and the 
Parliamentary party gained ascendency, a great num- 
ber of the adherents of the king emigrated to Virginia, igratiion to 

Virginia 

Amidst new democracy, these emigrants followed in 
America modified traditions and customs of the old-world landed 
gentry. To this class belonged John Washington, whose descen- 
dant, George Washington, was to be the leading figure in the war 
for independence against both king and parliament.^ 

29. Virginia Supports Charles and Opposes Parliament, 1649. 
— The Virginians were conservative people and clung to the idea 
of royal authority as the basis of their government, yet they were 
the first to offer resistance to this authority when it became op- 

• ^ Among these Cavalier emigrants there were other names which became 
prominent in history, such as Madison, Monroe, Tyler, Randolph, Mason, 
and Marshall. 



56 VIRGINIA AND NEW ENGLAND 

pressive or unjust. On the other hand, at the beginning of the 
Cromwell regency, Virginia openly declared for Prince Charles, 
the son, and later the successor of Charles I, whom the Parlia- 
mentary party had beheaded. 

This resistance to established authority in the mother country 

was not to be overlooked, however, so Cromwell and Parliament 

dispatched commissioners and a force to compel submission. The 

commissioners met extended preparations for resistance 

Compromise . ... 

with the by the colonists; so both parties wisely agreed to come 

Cromwell-^ ,., i • ^ i 

Pro tec to- to tcrms, which, on the one side, was the recognition 

rate ' . ' ^ , 

by the Virginians of the Protectorate as an act admitted 
b}!^ the commissioners to be ''a voluntary one . . . not forced 
nor constrained by conquest." On the other hand, a full measure 
of self-government was to be assured to the colony by Parliament. 
Consequently, the House of Burgesses passed all laws, imposed 
all taxes, and elected its governors like an independent common- 
wealth. The colonists continued to administer their own affairs 
Origin of the uutil the acccssiou of Prince Charles to the throne as 
o^JcT'^Doiilin- Charles II. It was at this time that Virginia received 
^°'^" its name of ''The Old Dominion," not only on account 

of its loyalty to the king, but because it was spoken of as ''His 
Majesty's Kingdom of Virginia," just as were the component 
parts of the United Kingdom in the Old World : England, Scotland, 
and Ireland. 

30. The Restoration of the Stuarts and the Rule of Governor 
Berkeley. — Charles II, with characteristic Stuart ingratitude, but ill 
repaid the Virginians for their loyalty to him in the Civil War. He 
was willing to let his favorites at court get what they could from 
the colony in the way of trade monopolies. Sir William 
indifference Berkeley reassumed authority as governor. Naturally 

tolndian. •iii 

massacres, obstiuatc and tyraniiical, he became more than ever 
opposed to progress and the development of democratic 
ideas in Virginia. As far as he could, he ruled through a favored 
few, so that Virginians of all classes grew very restless under him. 
The climax of opposition came when the governor and his coun- 



RULE OF GOVERNOR BERKELEY 57 

cillors refused to protect the frontier settlers against Indian attacks. 
Berkeley and his favorites either feared the raising of an armed 
force or they were unwilling to risk sacrificing a profitable fur trade. 
When the governor had repeatedly refused to take any action, 
a wealthy and talented young settler named Nathaniel Bacon 
championed the cause of the people, marched against Nathaniel 
the Indians, and utterly routed them. Governor Berke- ^a^ts the in- 
ley proclaimed Bacon a rebel, and set a price upon ^'^"^ 
the latter 's head, at the same time sending to England for troops 
to crush colonial resistance to his despotic rule. This act so 
aroused the colonists that a great number of their leading men, 
under Bacon, met at Middle Plantation (Williamsburg) ; and in a 
notable debate continuing far into the night, under the „ , , 

^ ^ ' Bacon leads 

flaming light of pine torches, the Virginians declared the people in 
that they would fight even the king's troops, should 
they come to the aid of the governor. This great discussion of 
colonial rights took place in August, 1676, and the statement of 
its broad principles of political liberty preceded those of the 
American Revolution by just one hundred years. 

Bacon forthwith led the settlers against the Indians; but, 
during his absence. Governor Berkeley returned to Jamestown, 
took possession, and declared that Bacon and his fol- Berkeley out- 
lowers were rebels and traitors. The rebels, however, ^^^^^ ^^^°° 
repulsed the governor's adherents, and held Jamestown until it 
was learned that Berkeley had gathered an overwhelming force 
from the northern plantations. Bacon and his men decided that 
the capital should be laid in ashes before it should be occupied 
again by the tyrannical governor, and two of his followers began 
the work by setting fire to their own houses, the best in the town; 
so that the first English settlement in America was given over to 
the flames and was never rebuilt.^ 

* These leaders were William Drummond, a Scotchman, and Richard Law- 
rence, an Oxford scholar. They should be remembered in history with Thomas 
Nelson, who, at Yorktown in 1781, offered a reward to the American gunner 
who first hit his house, which had become the headquarters of Cornwallis. 



58 VIRGINIA AND NEW ENGLAND 

It appears from the recent discovery of additional records that 
Bacon had excellent prospects of winning over to the popular side 
Death of niany of Governor Berkeley's followers as the oppos- 
Bacon -^^ forccs prepared for battle at Gloucester Point. But 

a fever seized the young leader, and, dying in the following October, 
he was buried secretly, lest indignities be offered his body after 
death. 

Without their leader, Bacon's followers sought to make peace 
with Berkeley, but the latter was not easily pacified. He set 
Berkeley's about Confiscating so much property and hanging so 
revenge many of the ''rebels" that even his own councillors 

protested, while Charles II declared that, ''The old fool has 
taken away more lives in that naked country than I did here for 
the murder of my father." He was recalled to England shortly 
after the arrival of the British troops that were sent over to put 
down the first rebellion in America. 

PART II. NEW ENGLAND 

31. Beginning of Colonial Unity. — In following the history 
of southern and middle colonies, we get the idea of clearly marked 
and divergent commonwealths. These colonies were either Eng- 
lish in origin, or, as in the case of New York, New Jersey, and 
Delaware, they came under British control. They all, therefore, 
acknowledged the same authority; but each colony gives us the 
impression of a distinct entity, disassociated from its neighbors. 
It is true that at one period North Carolina, South 

Southern -^ 

and middle CaroHua, and Georgia assisted each other in repelling 

colonies 70 x c^ 

Indian attacks, and it is also true that at a later period 
the colonies enlisted troops for a general struggle with the French 
in America, but no ideas for a general colonial union were seriously 
considered. Virginia was at first jealous of the intrusion of Mary- 
land into her former territory, and for many years Maryland 
likewise contended against the encroachments of Pennsylvania on 
her boundaries. Moreover, differences in the dominating religious 
beliefs of some of the colonies were very marked, as illustrated by 



PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS 59 

Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, which were established 
respectively under Anglican Episcopal, Roman Catholic, and 
Quaker auspices. 

In New England, on the contrary, the various settlements 
tended to unite, and here was first suggested in America the idea 
of confederation. A common religion bound four of 
these colonies ; and as religion in those days was closely England coi- 
. associated with governmental policies, this tie counted 
for a great deal. The colonies in New England which would thus 
naturally unite were the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, New 
Haven, and Connecticut settlements. The people of these set- 
tlements knew that their form of religion was different from and 
offensive to the Established Church in England, and they also 
knew that by uniting they would present a stronger front against 
possible interference on the part of the mother country. Rhode 
Island, however, having offered religious freedom to her settlers 
and thereby having presented a harbor for all those disaffected 
with Puritan domination, was excluded from the plan of union. 

From 1642 to 1649 the great civil war was raging in England; 
and, as the Puritan success drove the Cavaliers into the southern 
colonies after 1649, the same turn of affairs kept the 
Puritans in England. Under Puritan control Parlia- Navigation 

1 \ n TVT • • 4 • Acts, 1651 

ment passed the first Navigation Acts m 1651, restrict- 
ing American commerce to British-owned ships and British goods. 
The strict enforcement of these acts would have especially in- 
jured Puritan enterprises in New England, but the colonies evaded 
the acts and ail prospered greatly. 

32. Persecution of the Quakers in Massachusetts. — The period 
that began with the restoration of the king saw a great deal of 
religious disturbance in New England. Roger Williams and Anne 
Hutchinson had been driven out of Massachusetts. Quakers, 
however, now began to come in and resolutel}^ held their ground 
against much persecution. They would not go to Rhode Island, 
where they were not molested, but persisted particularly in preach- 
ing their doctrines in Boston. They were arrested and banished 



60 VIRGINIA AND NEW ENGLAND 

under pain of death should they return. They did return and 
some of them were hanged, one being a woman of high standing 
and repute. These executions took place under direction of the 
Puritan elders, but it was found that the majority of the people 
were opposed to such severity. One Quaker, Wenlock Christi- 
son, warned the judges ''that ye shed no more innocent blood." 
He was condemned to die, but the judges feared the wrath of the 
people, and no others were executed, although Quakers were 
afterwards whipped and put in prison. 

Charles II declared that the Puritan rulers had exceeded their 

authority. He ordered that those Quakers under accusation of 

disturbing the peace should be sent to England for 

position to trial, and that none should be put to death. The Puri- 

Charles II ' , , ,.,,,,•,. 

tan leaders, however, continued to try their prisoners 
regardless of the king's command. Furthermore, two of the 
judges who had condemned Charles I to the gallows were given 
shelter in New England, and in New Haven the Rev. Mr. Daven- 
port openly gave them aid and comfort. Consequently, although 
the exiled regicides were frequently pursued by British troops, 
they were never captured. 

33. King Philip's War, 1675-1676.— Many of the Indian tribes 
in New England were watching the steady expansion of the Eng- 
mh with ill-disguised hostility. It will be remembered that some 
bi the earlier chiefs became the fast friends of the settlers, by 
whom they were, as a rule, fairly and honestly treated. But now, 
as the Indians saw the settlements grow and their hunting grounds 
disappear, they prepared to drive out or exterminate the white 
invader. It is possible that these Indians of New England may 
have been in communication with the Indians of Virginia; for, 
about the time of the uprising in Virginia which called forth 
Nathaniel Bacon, the Wamponoags, Narragansetts, and Nip- 
mucks of New England began to burn dwellings and massacre the 
settlers in the north. 

The first attack was made by Philip, sachem of the Wampo- 
noags, in 1675, and the war that followed was called King Philip's 



MASSACHUSETTS CLAIMS SETTLEMENTS ^ 61 

War. The Plymouth colony was the first to suffer; several vil- 
lages were burned and the inhabitants killed or tortured. But 
the Puritans had no Governor Berkeley to hold their Indian mas- 
vengeance in check, and the Wamponoags were soon ^^'^''^^' ^^''^ 
crushed. Philip, however, escaped to the Nipmucks, who began to 
burn houses and attack the settlers in one place or another up to 
very neighborhood of Boston. Before the Narragansetts could 
enter the war, their great palisaded fort in Rhode Island was 
vigorously assailed by a force of one thousand colonists, 

,1 1 . 1 1 -11 1 1 1 1 -r Indians de- 

who destroyed it and killed more than a thousand In- feated by the 

r-TM • • • XA 1 settlers, 1676 

dians. This victory was won m December, and by the 

summer of 1676 the three Indian tribes were utterly crushed and 

their chieftains, Philip and Canonchet, killed. The captured 

Indians were sold as slaves. A detached tribe in 

Maine kept up the conflict, but everywhere the 

settlers were successful, although they had lost 

over a thousand men, together with a number 

of women and children. Nearly half of all their 

towns had been attacked and twelve totally 

destroyed. A great war debt had also been 

contracted. 

34. Massachusetts Claims Settlements in 
Maine and New Hampshire.— In addition to ^— ^; »-^-> 
the feeling of irritation aroused in the mind 
of Charles II by the protection afforded the judges who had 
condemned his father, the king found other cause for com- 
plaint, especially with Massachusetts, which colony . 
had absorbed the settlements of New Hampshire (1641- New Hamp- 
1643) and Maine (1667). In this absorption, Massa- 
chusetts was acting within the terms of her first charter. This 
charter provided for the control of territory three miles north of 
the Merrimac, which was at first supposed to flow east and west 
throughout its length. But as the source of the river is far to 
the north of its mouth, the original charter boundaries included 
the settlements that had been made in New Hampshire and Maine. 




PURITAN COSTUMES 



62 VIRGINIA AND NEW ENGLAND 

Massachusetts located the source of the Merrimac while the Stuart 
kings gave out other charters in entire ignorance of American geog- 
raphy. Massachusetts had paid £1200 to the heirs of Gorges, the 
founder of Maine, for their rights. The king now ordered the trans- 
action cancelled, ordered Massachusetts to give up Maine, and in 
1679 made the New Hampshire territory a royal province. 

Charles II sent over commissioners to inquire into these 

^Misorders." Upon their arrival in the colony, the commissioners 

claimed that the king's letters were no more regarded 

IMassachu- . ^ 

setts defies than if they were "an old number of the London 

Charles II -^ 

Gazetted In consequence, the king had the charter 
of Massachusetts annulled and the colony made over into a royal 
province in 1684, just as James I had done in the dispute with 
Virginia in 1625. He then set about drawing up a plan for a new 
government. But as the plans of James I for the colony of Vir- 
ginia had been cut short by the death of that ruler, so now the 
Massachusetts plans of his grandson were never completed, on 
account of the death of Charles II in 1685. 

35. Sir Edmund Andres Appointed Governor over the New 
England Colonies and New York and New Jersey. — James II 
succeeded his brother, and one of the early acts of the new king 
was to unite under royal supervision all the New England colonies, 
together with New York and New Jersey, into one great province 
as a bulwark of defense against the encroachments of the French 
in the north. He sent over Sir Edmund Andros as governor. 
Andros was an honest official, but he was firmly determined upon 
bringing the colonies more directly under the control of the king, 
and thereby depriving them of some of their independence of 
attitude and action. 

In pursuance of this policy. Governor Andros introduced the 
Episcopal form of worship in Massachusetts, in which he had the 
Massachu- Sympathy of some of the people; but he also dismissed 
jam'esTiTiso! the Massachusctts Assembly, abolished the courts of 
1680-1689 ^j^g colony, denied free expression of opinion in the 
newspapers, and taxed the colonists without the consent of their 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 63 

representatives. The royal authority exercised through the zeal- 
ous Andros was aimed more particularly at Massachusetts than 
any other colony under the direction of the governor. Massa- 
chusetts had not only managed "her own affairs, but had strongly 
dominated the other New England colonies except Rhode Island. 
James II felt that this colony must be made to yield, but neither 
Massachusetts nor the other colonies submitted to Governor 
Andros readily. In Rhode Island and Connecticut the charters 
were cleverly hid, and Andros was foiled in his efforts to get them. 
Moreover, Massachusetts seemed on the point of open resistance, 
when it became known that James II had been deposed by the 
English people. Boston received the news with joy. Andros was 
seized by the people, and the government of Boston was taken over 
by the town meeting and a specially appointed committee of 
safety. Andros was sent back to England, and William and Mary 
granted a new charter to Massachusetts, while Rhode Island and 
Connecticut quietly resumed their government under the terms 
of the charters that had been saved. 

36. Union of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies. — 
The new Massachusetts charter provided for the union of the 
colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay under a governor 
appointed by the king; it guaranteed freedom of worship to all 
Protestant denominations, and struck at Puritan control by mak- 
ing the possession of property, instead of church membership, 
the basis of political rights and privilege. Massachusetts con- 
tinued to control the settlements in Maine until 1820. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. What two things may have prevented the massacre of all the settlers 
in Virginia in 1622? (See p. 54.) The chieftain of the Eastern Shore Indians 
was Debedeavon, a most interesting and, perhaps, a unique character among 
the North American natives. He was called by the Enghsh the "Laughing 
King," because of his general good-humor, which was not wholly exhausted 
even when he was subjected, on sundry occasions, to unwarranted aggression 
on the part of some of the settlers. The wide expanse of Chesapeake Bay 



64 VIRGINIA AND NEW ENGLAND 

afforded protection to the Eastern Shore Indians from ready attack by their 
fierce kinsmen of the mainland. Moreover, the fertihty of the soil and the 
wonderful abundance of fish and game made existence easy, so that the 
"Laughing King" and his subjects seemed to enjoy the peace and plenty of 
their little kingdom. (See "Ye Kingdom of Accawmacke, or the Eastern 
Shore of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century," by J. C. Wise.) 

2. What events in England caused an increased emigration to Virginia? 
The ancestors of what Presidents of the United States came over at this period? 
See footnote, p. 55. 

3. Why was Jamestown burned? See p. 57. 

4. There was a marked decrease in emigration of Puritans to America 
between 1642 and 1660. Why was this? 

5. Compare the Indian wars of New England with those of Virginia at 
about the same period. Extended accounts have reached us of the former, 
but we know comparatively little of Bacon's campaigns in Virginia. 

6. What event or individual in Part I of this chapter most interested 
you? In Part II? 

7. Perhaps you could add something of interest to the narrative, such as 
the story of the "Charter Oak" in Connecticut, although this story, like the 
rescue of John Smith by Pocahontas, is not fully authenticated. 



ENGLISH DATES FOR REFERENCE 

1625. Accession of Charles I. 

1642. Beginning of Civil War, 

1649. Charles I beheaded. 

1649-1660. Parliamentary rule and Cromwell Protectorate. 

1651. Passage of the first navigation laws in restriction of American trade. 

1660. Restoration of the kingdom and the accession of Charles II. 

1665. Plague and Great Fire in London. 



CHAPTER VI 

The Struggle for the Control of North America 

37. Rise of New France. — We have seen how the Enghsh, 
ignoring the claims of the Spanish nation to all of North America, 
had now taken possession of an Atlantic coast region that stretched 
from Florida on the south to the St. Lawrence River on the north. 
This nad been brought about chiefly during the seventeenth century, 
or from 1607 to the settlement of Georgia in 1733. 

But as the influence of Spain began to decline both in the Old 
World and in the New, another European power arose to dispute 
with the English the control of the North American continent. 
This power was France. Under the lead of Samuel de Champlain, 
the ''Father of New France," a settlement had been Founding of 
effected upon the great rock of Quebec in 1608. Like ^""^''' '^^^ 
the Jamesto^\^l and Plymouth colonies, it barely survived the first 
winter; but although the courage and endurance of these settlers 
excite our admiration and interest, we are here considering French 
colonization only in so much as it came into contact T\ath the 
British or as it encroached upon British claims within the borders 
of the present United States. 

One of the first acts of the French colonists contributed largely 
to their final overthrow in the New World. Urged by the Algon- 
quin Indians to join them in an attack against their The French 
traditional enemies, the Iroquois, the colonists agreed f/o'i.fu o^^s! 
to do so. Consequently, the French, together with the ^^^^ 
Algonquins, attacked and defeated the Iroquois on the shores of 
Lake Champlain in the summer of 1609; and not only brought 
against themselves the animosity of the ''Five Nations" of In- 
dians to the south of them, but made the Iroquois tribes for one 
hundred years the allies of the Dutch and the English. In con- 
sequence, the Iroquois kept the French almost wholly out of 
5 65 



66 



STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF NORTH AMERICA 



New York, and compelled them to follow a western route to 
gain access to the interior of the country. In the very year 
of the battle on Lake Champlain, Hudson sailed up the river 
that bears his name, and made with the Iroquois the treaty 
that has been already referred to in the story of the settlement 
of New York. 




MAP SHOWING FRENCH, SPANISH AND ENGLISH CLAIMS PRIOR TO OVERTHROW OF THE FRENCH 



In spite, however, of this obstacle to their progress, in spite 
of their limited numbers, and in spite of a despotic form of gov- 
New France emmeut, the French traders made wonderful progress. 
G?eat^ Lakel undcr Icadcrs unsurpassed for daring and vast accom- 
sSsippi vai- plishment. In a comparatively short time Champlain 
^^^ and Nicolet had mapped out the course and confines 

of the Great Lakes, and St. Lusson, with due pomp and ceremony, 
had stood on the shores of Lake Superior, claiming the northwest 
for the ''Grand Monarque," Louis XIV. Moreover, nearly a 
score of years before the close of the seventeenth century, the 



KING WILLIAM'S WAR 67 

adventurous and self-sacrificing La Salle followed the Mississippi 
River to its mouth, claiming the interior of the continent in the 
name of France, and calling the entire valley of the Louisiana 
Father of Waters Louisiana, in honor of his king. As °^°^^^ 
the years went on, the French were to reach out southward and 
eastward, and the English northward and westward. 

38. Conflict between French and English for the Control of 
New York. — From the earliest times, explorers, traders, and colo- 
nists of Spanish, French, or English descent fought each other 
when they met in the New World regardless of declarations of 
war or proclamations of peace between their respective countries. 
The English had fought the Spanish where they met them on sea 
or land; and the French and English were fighting for French de- 
control of the American fishing coasts, for the fur trade ^^^^^ 

in northern Canada, for the possession of Acadia in the east and the 
border colony of New York. It was, however, in the last-named re- 
gion that a crisis was to occur, and it is that region which most con- 
cerns our history. Far-sighted French leaders perceived clearly that, 
if they could control New York, they would separate the English 
colonists and thereby greatly weaken the British power in America. 
Had the Stuart kings remained in power, it is possible that the 
French would have effected their purpose, temporarily at least; 
but on the accession of William and Mary to the throne 

.._ Effect of the 

m 1689, events shaped themselves very differently, accession of 

r^t , '^ IT Tx , 1 1 1 T William III 

Charles II and James II had been secretly more or less 
dependent upon the King of France; but W^illiam III, as ruler of 
the Netherlands only, had been the bitterest opponent of Louis 
XIV on the continent. A series of wars between England and 
France broke out, the first being known in America as King Wil- 
Ham's War, the second as Queen Anne's War, and the third as 
King George's War. 

39. King William's War, 1690-1697.— The French leader in 
America, the captain-general of New France, was Count Frontenac, 
a bold and resourceful master of men. He would on occasion 
adopt some of the habits and put on the war paint of his Indian 



68 STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF NORTH AMERICA 

allies. Although he was then seventy years old, he would take 
part in their war dances, and was ready either for Indian strate- 
Count Fron- gems or ^'pale-face" warfare. He now had orders to 
tenac conquer New York and annex it to New France. But 

the attack that Champlain had made upon the Iroquois years before 
saved the day for the English. Frontenac was not able to begin 
his great campaign because his Indian foes of the Five Nations 
were at his own doors. They had cut off the French fur trade and 
were torturing French prisoners in plain sight of the settlement at 
Montreal. Such was the perilous condition of New France when 
Frontenac returned to the colony after a visit to the mother 
country. On his arrival, therefore, he was forced to defend Canada 
Indian at- fi^st, and to contcnt himself with raids upon outlying 
thf^EngUsh English settlements, such as Schenectady in New York 
settlements (igQQ)^ Durham in New Hampshire (1694), and Haver- 
hill in New England (1G97). The first of these attacks fell upon 
Schenectady; but that upon Haverhill became the most famous 
through the exploit of a woman captive, Mrs. Thomas Dustin, 
who, with two companions, succeeded in killing her Indian cap- 
tors and escaping through the woods back to the settlement. 

Nearly all these Indian attacks were made by stealth, many of 
them at night, and in the winter. The victims were either mas- 
sacred on the spot or they were carried off for torture. All the 
settlers along the line of the northern colonies stood in daily fear 
of surprise and massacre during these years. Concerted efforts by 
large forces were made to attack Quebec and Montreal. The 
expedition against Quebec was led by William Phips, who was 
born in Maine in 1651, one of an American family of twenty 
brothers. Both expeditions were brought to nought, partly 
through the genius of Frontenac arid partly through British and 
Frontenac's American mismanagement. Moreover, in the next few 
success years, Frontenac succeeded in breaking the power of 

the Five Nations, and the Iroquois sued for peace. In America 
King William's War had redounded to the credit of the French 
and was followed by a peace that lasted four years. 



SECOND WAR WITH FRANCE 



40. Second War with France, 1702-1714.— This struggle be- 
came known in America as Queen Anne's War. As before, it was 
a prolonged struggle of the Enghsh colonists, along the Nova Scotia 
line of their northern border, against the French and captured \y 
their Indian allies, in which the outlying settlements the Bntish 
suffered from ambuscades, massacres, burnings, and all the horrors 
of savage warfare. Haverhill, but 30 miles from Boston, was 
again the scene of massacre, and Deerfield was pillaged. On the 




THE ATTACK 



part of the English, a second expedition was led against Quebec, 
but it also ended in failure; Nova Scotia, however, was captured 
and held by colonial and British troops. 

Owing to their position, the middle colonies were free from 
attack at this time, but the French and Spanish CaroUnasre- 

' ^ ^ pel invasion 

planned an extended invasion of the Carolinas, Georgia ^J^^f p ^jy,^^-^ 
not then having been settled. Governor Nathaniel aiues, iroo 
Johnson, however, devoted himself to the defense of these prov- 
inces, and although a terrible plague of yellow fever was raging 
in and about Charleston when the French and Spanish appeared 



70 STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF NORTH AMERICA 

before its fortifications in 1706, the Carolinians won a notable 
victory, driving off the enemy and capturing over two hundred 
French and Spanish prisoners. This defeat crushed the hopes of 
the French and Spanish in the south. 

Peace was declared in Europe in 1713. The claims of Great 

Britain to Newfoundland and the Hudson Bay country were 

recognized, and Nova Scotia was ceded to England. 

Results of * ' . *= 

Queen The results in this war were against the French m the 

Anne's War , i t i i i • 

east, but m the west they had established their con- 
nections throughout the central part of the continent from Detroit 
(1701) to Mobile (1702). 

41. Third War with France; First Period, 1743-1748.— Except 
for minor conflicts, both parties seem to have been preparing for 
the final struggle (King George's War), which broke out in 1743. 
With short intervals of peace, this war lasted until the end of the 
European conflict known as the Seven Years' War, or until 1763, 
a year that also marked the beginning of the political struggle 
between the colonies and Great Britain. This preliminary twenty 
years of conflict with New France was destined to bring out and 
train many of the great leaders of the American Revolution, 
among them George Washington. 

From the English viewpoint the first period of this war reached 
its climax in the ably-conducted and successful campaign against 
First cam- Louisburg Oil Cape Breton Island. This was very 
rS^birj! largely the achievement of New England, and it was 
^^^^ marked by the choice for a second time of a colonial 

commander from Maine to lead a large force against a strong- 
hold of the French. Louisburg was considered an almost im- 
pregnable fortress, but, after six weeks' siege by New England 
militia and four British men-of-war, it capitulated. The news 
of its capture was received with great joy on both sides of the 
Atlantic, and William Pepperell, the American commander, was 
rewarded with a baronetcy. When a temporary peace was 
made three years later (1748), the colonies were highly indig- 
nant when they learned that the British government had given 



THIRD WAR WITH FRANCE; FIRST PERIOD 



this hard-won stronghold back to France in exchange for Madras 
in distant India. 

Peace could not last, however, as long as French and English 
boundaries in America were unsettled. In 1750 the Ohio Company 
was formed in the middle colonies to promote English English and 
development of the western frontier. Upon hearing of i^'^'^^he owo 
this proposed encroachment upon the claims of the ''^"''^ 
French to the interior of the continent, the French commanders 




MAP OF THE FRENCH AXD INDIAN CAMPAIGNS 

in America began to erect a chain of forts from Lake Erie to the 
southwestern part of the present State of Pennsylvania. This 
movement aroused the antagonism of the colonial The Gover- 
governors, especially that of the energetic Robert Din- ginL°lina 
widdie of Virginia. Determining to warn the French ^^^ ^'^'''^^ 
commanders to withdraw from EngUsh territory, Dinwiddle en- 
trusted this most important mission to George Washington, then 



72 STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF NORTH AMERICA 

a young surveyor. Although Washington was at that time scarcely 
of age, he had been for two years a major in the Virginia militia; 
he was hardy, accustomed to border life, and had earned the 
reputation of doing well whatever he undertook. Not only was 
he recognized for his own ability and force of character, but he 
was a member of a family that had long been favorably knowai in 
colonial life. 

The task required of young Major Washington was a perilous 
and delicate undertaking. Not only did it require firmness and 
George discrctiou, especially in dealing with the Indians, but 
JI?ries°Go°v^ great courage and an endurance of a high order. His 
widdie'sme"- joumey of six hundred miles lay through a tangled 
^^^^ wilderness where, for the most part, the Indians were 

favorably disposed to the French and were likely to kill or torture 
every Englishman found in that region.^ Major Washington 
carried out his instructions with absolute faithfulness and delivered 
his message to the French Commander at Fort Le Boeuf, within 
a few miles of Lake Erie. Discreet and sober himself, he learned 
much from French officers who Vere neither. He observed closely 
their strength and fortifications and made notes of all that he saw. 

However, it was idle to think that a brave people were going 

to give up, without a struggle, valuable outposts built at the cost 

of so much labor and peril ; and the message Washing- 

The French , , i r~^ -r^- • i i- i i t- 

refuse to tou brought back to uovernor Dmwiddie and the Vir- 
from the ginia Assembly was a reassertion of the claims of the 
French and their determination to hold the country 
they were then controlling. 

Independently of the rest of the English colonies, and in spite 
of a treaty of peace between Great Britain and France, Virginia 
Dinwiddle determined to make war against the French in America 

prepares for iiii ^ • • ^ • i • • 

war and asked the other colonies to assist her m driving 

out the invaders. A copy of Washington's notes or journal was 

lA messenger previously sent on the same mission by Dinwiddie had 
"neglected his duty" and turned back, because, as the governor expressed it, 
"he was afraid" to go farther. 



THIRD WAR WITH FRANCE; SECOND PERIOD 73 

sent to the governors of each colony, but the response was dis- 
couraging, North CaroHna alone agreeing to give assistance. 

42. Third War with France; Second Period, 1754-1763. — Hop- 
ing for aid from the other English colonies, Virginia began hostilities 
in the spring of 1754. Although an English advance force re- 
tired from western Pennsylvania, Washington really fired the .first 
shot at some distance south of Fort Duquesne (Pittsburg). The 
French were defeated and captured, and their commander killed. 
Washington, however, heard of the approach of an 
overwhelming force of French and Indians and felt forced to sur- 

render 1754 

compelled to retire and construct a stockade, which he 
called Fort Necessity.^ Here Washington, now lieutenant-colonel, 
was compelled to surrender. But his defense had been so stubborn 
that the terms offered him by the besieging force were most rea- 
sonable. He and his men marched back to Virginia, and the war 
they had begun was not to end until New France was overthrown 
nine years later. 

Events now followed one upon the other in the preparation ])y 
the two nations for a final struggle, not only in America, but in 
England and in Asia as well. In America, the royal 
governors, Dinwiddle of Virginia and Shirley of Massa- for" colonial 
chusetts, brought forward plans for unity of action, 
although the royal project for the uniting of the New England 
colonies with those of New York and New Jersey under one execu- 
tive met with strong opposition, because it was thought that the 
long enjoyed privileges of self-government would be endangered. 

Partly because of a similar distrust, a plan of union proposed 
by Benjamin Franklin in a conference at Albany was rejected. 
Although it was not adopted, Franklin's plan is inter- Franklin's 
esting in that it presented a colonial suggestion for a pi^^^o^^^io^ 
common government, which was to include a general congress, a 

2 Washington's Virginians had now been joined by a body of men from 
South Carolina. The royal governor of that colony had curtly refused assist- 
ance on Dinwiddie's request, but the people united in equipping a force to 
send to his aid. 



74 STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF NORTH AMERICA 

continental army, and a royal governor over all the colonies. He 
believed that with such a government the war with France could 
be prosecuted with vigor and success, since the preceding wars 
showed a lamentable lack of cooperation and needless losses of 
men and treasure. 

In each colonial assembly arose an ever-recurring struggle 
with the royal governor, the former refusing grants of mone; 




By permission of the Union League, Phila 



WASHINGTON PRESENTING GOVERNOR DINWIDDIE S LETTER TO CHEVALIER 
LEGARDEUR DE ST. PIERRE, 1753 

unless the governor would grant additional privileges. Such con- 
tinual conflict for money on the one side and privileges on the other 
Comparison haudicappcd all the colonies. When one w^as ready to 
of resources ^^^ ^ forcc in the field, the others were not prepared 
to cooperate. The French were not so handicapped. With a 
central and all-powerful government, every part of their great 
province must respond to the call of war. The people had no 



THIRD WAR WITH FRANCE; SECOND PERIOD 75 

choice in the matter; yet such an absolute form of government 
could not, in the long run, stand against that of the English colo- 
nies, when finally aroused and united by a popular impulse. 

The war that was thus begun in western Pennsylvania did not 
go well with the English at first. The colonial troops were badly 
commanded, and the English ministry was slow and inefficient. 
Nevertheless, although the French government both at home and 
in America was incredibly corrupt, New France was blessed with 
brave and brilliant leaders in the Marquis de Montcalm and some 
of his lieutenants. The first move made was under British aus- 
pices against Fort Duquesne. To capture that important strong- 



^^;>-.^^.vTwENTYFOUR.TH0FaD<?fe5. 




THREE-PENNY NOTE OF MASSACHUSETTS 



hold, General Braddock and two regiments of regular troops 
were sent over from England. Braddock was brave, but ignorant 
of the peculiar Indian and colonial methods of warfare in the 
forests of America. Consequently he set out from Virginia to 
fight in the same way that he was accustomed to fight Bj.^jjQ^i^,g 
on the plains of Europe. George Washington, who 
accompanied him with a number of colonial troops, 
warned him in vain against such a course. Braddock, however, 
would accept no suggestions, and making a military road mile by 
mile as he marched, he had nearly reached his goal when he was 
suddenly assailed by the French and Indians, who poured in on 



campaign, 
1755 



76 STRUaGLE FOR CONTROL OF NORTH AMERICA 

his massed troops a deadly fire from unseen sources. The slaughter 
was terrible. Washington and his colonial volunteers sought to 
fight in true frontier fashion from behind trees and other shelter. 
To the brave but obstinate Braddock this style of fighting was 
irregular and cowardly. He urged his men to stand their ground in 
the open; but his army was cut to pieces and he himself was mor- 
washington tally woundcd. The English lost over eight hundred 
Br^ldock^s officers and men, the French but sixty; and it was due to 
^^""^ the coolness of Washington and his colonial troops that 

the remnant of the regular army was saved from destruction. This 
disaster gave the French undisputed command of the Ohio and 
Mississippi •valleys, in addition to nearly the whole of present 
Canada.^ 

The savage allies of the French now began to pillage and kill 
all along the western borders of the English settlements, as they 
had done some years before in New England. In Pennsylvania, 
the Quaker element in control, conscientiously opposed to war, 
would not vote for aggressive military measures, although Ben- 
jamin Franklin labored hard with some final success. The next 
heavy blows, however, were to fall upon New York, where even 
the Iroquois hesitated in their alliance with the English. In that 
colony, William Johnson (afterwards knighted) was fortunately 
popular with the Six Nations.^ Although his entire record as a 

3 Nova Scotia (French Acadia) had been conquered previously by the 
Enghsh, but the inhabitants refused to obey British authority. Because, 
therefore, they were a constant menace to the Enghsh, the latter determined 
to deport the irreconciliable portion of the population. Forced to abandon 
their homes, the French were transported to a number of the English colonies 
from New England to Georgia. The provocation to the English had been very 
great for a number of years, but the decree of transportation fell with terrible 
severity on the French colonists. Longfellow's well-known "Evangeline " gives 
an idealized picture of the Acadian peasant and his characteristics. It has 
proved a popular and attractive poem, but it is far from being true to history. 

4 The Iroquois were now styled the "Six Nations," because of the acces- 
sion of their kindred Tuscaroras, defeated and driven out of North Carolina 
by the settlers there. 



THIRD WAR WITH FRANCE; SECOND PERIOD 77 

commander does not appear to be a brilliant one, he achieved in 
that quarter the single success of the campaign in a bloody and 
successful conflict with the French on the shore of Lake English vic- 

1 f 1 ^^^^' ^* Lake 

George. Much of the credit of the victory, however, George, 1755 
should go to General Phineas Lyman and to Lieutenant-Colonel 
Nathan Whiting of Connecticut. 

Johnson built near the spot of the battle Fort William Henry, 
but failed to follow up his advantage. Because he did not march 
to its relief. Fort Oswego in the west fell into the hands French cap- 
of the French. Later, Fort William Henry was captured w7 1 u'^a'^m 
by the French, after which their Indian allies fell upon ^^"""■y- ^^^^ 
the prisoners and perpetrated a terrible massacre. This barbarity 
brought, however, its own punishment, in that it conveyed to the 
savage captors the germs of smallpox from the tortured victims 
that were suffering from or had died of that disease in the English 
fort; for the savages even robbed the grave to get English scalps. 

Unfortunately, through court influence and Johnson's jealousy, 
the efficient royal Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, was super- 
seded and the blundering Governor Loudoun (successor to Din- 
widdle), of Virginia, assumed command. One dismal Montcalm 
failure followed another, until the climax was reached so^'^ar'ncoS- 
in the crushing defeat of the English by Montcalm at ^^'°^^' ^^^^ 
Ticonderoga, where thirteen thousand men under Abercromby 
and Sir William Johnson were driven back in rout through the 
skill of Montcalm and the blunders of the English commanders. 

But this was the last of the notable French successes. William 
Pitt, the greatest of England's w^ar ministers, was now at the head 
of the British government. His energy was felt almost ^. , 

. -r^ . A • 1 • A • ^^^^ beoomes 

at once m Europe, m Asia, and m America, or wherever Prime Min- 

ister 

war was raging in three continents. Setting a splendid 
example of oflftcial honesty himself, Pitt removed corrupt subor- 
dinates and incompetent or blundering commanders. One Eng- 
lish success followed another. Louisburg was recaptured by Gen- 
erals Amherst and Wolfe, Fort Duquesne was taken and renamed 
Fort Pitt (later Pittsburg). Forts Niagara and Ticonderoga were 



78 STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF NORTH AMERICA 

captured in the summer of 1759, and when Quebec surrendered 
in the following autumn, the French power in America fell with 
that powerful fortress. The story of its fall is an inspiring one 
and lights up with glory the names of Wolfe and Montcalm, the 
victor and the vanquished. Although the scene of the conflict is 
not on United States soil, it is connected with our colonial de- 
velopment and therefore merits a place in this history. 

After the capture of Louisburg in 1758, the youthful General 
Wolfe leads Jamcs Wolfc was sent up the St. Lawrence to attack 
IJams't^Que'^ Qucbcc, the strongest citadel of New France. General 
^^^ Amherst was to help by land against Montreal, but 

Amherst accomplished little, and the credit for the final over- 
throw of New France belongs to Wolfe. 
Quebec had been fortified and was defended 
by the experienced strategist Montcalm. The 
cliffs were well-nigh inaccessible by land at- 
tack and too high for the range of the guns 
of the English fleet. It was beheved that all 
the possible approaches had been rendered 
impregnable, and the summer was spent by 
the English in a vain attempt to find a vul- 
From Chateau de Ramezay ucrablc polut f Or attack ; but wficu autumu 
GENERAL JAMES WOLFE ji^fj comc, aud whcn it seemed that the Eng- 
Hsh must retire at the approach of winter, Wolfe found a path 
that his army could scale in the dark of night. Making pretence 
The French of attack in many places before dawn on the 13th of 
th?piafns °Jf September, he overpowered the unsuspecting guards 
Abraham ^^ ^^^ ^^p q£ ^^iq cliff and drcw up on the plains of 
Abraham above Quebec an army of 5,000 men. 

The battle that followed did not last long. The great Mont- 
calm fell while bravely rallying his men, thanking God that he 
Canada be- did not 11 vc to scc Qucbec Surrender. Wolfe was mor- 

comes a Brit- iii i iii it-iti 

ish province tally woundcd, but when told that the English were 
victorious, he exclaimed that he died in peace. Quebec was now 
forced to surrender and Canada ultimately became a British 




INDIAN WARS PRIOR TO THE REVOLUTION 



France cedes 
Louisiana to 
Spain 



province. France likewise gave up, in favor of Great Britain, 
her claim to all the continent between the Mississippi 
and the Alleghenies, ceding to her ally, Spain, the 
country from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains. 

43. Indian Wars Prior to the Revolution. — Three Indian wars 
marked the closing of the Anglo-French struggle. One was be- 
gun by the great chief Pontiac, who secured from many p o n t i a c 's 

'^ ^ <=' '^ conspiracy in 

of the northern tribes a promise of concerted action the norjh- 

^ west, 1/63- 

for the massacre of settlers all along the borders of the i765 
middle colonies. The Indians surprised and massacred many 




ENGLISH TERRITORY AFTER THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS 



English settlers, but some of the military outposts just secured 
from the French were saved by a timely warning. One of these 
was Detroit. 

In this war there were bloody ambushes and many lives lost; 
but from it all one English soldier stood forth above his fellows. 
This was Colonel Henry Bouquet [Boo-ka] who fought c o i o n e i 
and won a decisive battle with the Indians at Bushy Bouquet 
Run in western Pennsylvania, and later conducted a successful 



80 STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF NORTH AMERICA 

campaign in Ohio that led to their final overthrow. Pontiac was 
forced to sue for peace, and he was later killed by a fellow Indian 
for the promised reward of a barrel of rum. Colonel Bouquet was 
made a brigadier-general, and was sent to the southern depart- 
ment. Two years later he succumbed to a fever at Pensacola, 
Florida, and died there in 1765. 

Somewhat prior to Pontiac's war in the northwest, a conflict 
began between the southern colonies and the Cherokee Indians. 
Rising of the Like Poutiac's war, it started in massacres and disaster 
in the south for the colonies, but closed with defeat for the natives, 
and new accessions of power and territory for the whites. The 
worst single disaster of the conflict was the fall of Fort Loudoun 
in the mountains of western North Carolina, with the massacre 
of many of its defenders and the capture of the remainder. Finally, 
the British regulars and Carolinians broke the power of the Chero- 
kees after a bloody campaign in the western part of South Carolina. 

The last of these three Indian wars was the most notable and 
took place shortly before the American Revolution. It is im- 
The third In- portant in that it is very closely connected with the 
thrmld'^die progress of American colonization and the ''Winning 
^^^^ of the West." It includes the most stubbornly con- 

tested battle that red men ever fought against white men in this 
country. It was a war which made directly possible the settle- 
ment of Kentucky, and, later, control of the northwest by Virginia 
first and later by the United States. 

Soon after the close of the French and Indian wars, Daniel 
Boone and other pioneers began to cross the Alleghenies and enter 
Daniel the woudcrful hunting grounds beyond, where buffalo, 
K^n'tucky^'' dccr, and elk ranged, with ''bear and turkies in abun- 
dance." Boone's reports attracted the most famous hunters of 
North Carolina and Virginia. But the Indians were for the 
most part hostile, and many white men lost their lives in am- 
bushes. Consequently, some of the whites began to kill Indians 
wherever they saw them, without first finding out whether 
they were friendly or not. In this way the family of a friendly 



INDIAN WARS PRIOR TO THE REVOLUTION 81 

chief called John Logan were killed, and the Mingoes, Shaw- 
nees, and other tribes declared war under Cornstalk, a noted 
chieftain of the northwest, and under Logan, now the whites' 
bitterest enemy. 

The colony of Virginia prepared for war and sent out two 
forces to invade the Indian territory. Upon learning of this 
division of the English, Cornstalk, with instant decision and dis- 
patch worthy of a great commander, hastened through the forest 
to attack the first division under General Andrew Lewis before it 
could unite with that commanded by Lord Dunmore. Battle of 

-^ . Point Pleas- 

This able Indian chief and his warriors crossed the ant, 1774 
Ohio River at night, and by sunrise of October 10, 1774, fiercely 
attacked the English encampment at Point Pleasant. The fight 
lasted almost the entire day and a fifth of the English force fell 
before the Indians were defeated and driven off. 

Up to this time, no large body of Indians had maintained a 
regular engagement for so long a period of steady fighting against 
an equal force of Englishmen. A large number of the colonial 
officers were killed, but some of the men who survived this great 
Indian battle were backwoodsmen destined utterly to defeat and 
capture at King's Mountain an equal number of the best troops 
that George III could put into the field against the colonies. 
General Lewis now crossed the Ohio to join Dunmore. Shortly 
afterwards, peace was made with the Indians, who did not attempt 
further to molest the settlers until some time after the beginning 
of the War for Independence. 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. A chapter on Indian life is given at the end of the book. This chapter 
may be introduced here or at any appropriate point in the narrative. It may 
be taken up in connection with the reading of any of Cooper's "Leather- 
stocking Tales." 

2. Consider the immense extent of the empire claimed by the French in 
the New World. 

3. Compare their rapid expansion with the slower movements of the 
English. 

6 



82 STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF NORTH AMERICA 

4. What do you think of the right or reasonableness of the French claim 
as compared with that of the English? 

5. Compare the relations between the French and the Indians with those 
between the English and the Indians. 

6. Should you not like to single out some special event in these French 
and Indian wars and read a more extended account of it in a larger history 
or in a good encyclopaedia? 

7. What excellent qualities did young Major Washington show in his 
negotiations with the French and in his campaigns against them? 

8. The hmits of this chapter do not allow space to describe the tide of 
emigration setting in toward the west after the battle of Point Pleasant, 
nor is there space to give the details of the interesting campaign of Lord Dun- 
more and General Lewis. 



ENGLISH DATES FOR REFERENCE 

1689-1702. Reign of William HI. 

1690-1697. The War of the Palatinate (King William's War). 

1701-1713. The War of the Spanish Succession (Queen Anne's War), 

1702-1714. Reign of Queen Anne. 

1714-1727. Reign of George I. 

1727-1760. Reign of George 11. 

1743-1748 and 1756-1763. War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven 

Years' War (King George's War). 
1760. Accession of George HI. 



CHAPTER VII 



The English Colonies Prior to the American Revolution 

We cannot understand the history of the American Revolu- 
tion without knowing something of the people of the colonies — 
their habits, customs, occupations, and conditions. These varied 
greatly not only in widely separated sections, but also in neigh- 
boring commonwealths. 

44. Religious Differences among the Colonies. — In the colo- 
nies, prior to the Revolution, there were very important points 
of difference that do not exist to-day, although 
the effect of these differences continued for a 
long time, in habits of thought, social traits, and 
ideas of government. For instance, there were 
very marked differences in religious beliefs. In 
those days each old-world government assumed 
to direct or control the religious exercises of its 
people. In America several of the colonies were 
settled under wholly different religious auspices 
or direction, illustrated, as shown before, by 
the Puritan government of Massachusetts, the 
Episcopal domination in Virginia, and the Quaker influence in 
Pennsylvania. Nevertheless, although it is often stated broadly 
that Episcopalians and Cavaliers settled Virginia and 
the Puritans and Roundheads emigrated to New 
England, it must also be remembered that Puritans, 
Baptists, and Presbyterians helped to colonize Virginia, and that 
Cavaliers, Episcopalians and the adherents of other denominations 
settled in New England. In either case, the lesser element helped 
to liberalize and expand the whole. 

It has been easy, in the description of the founding of the 

83 




Avery s History 
VIRGINIA COSTUMES 



Broad gen- 
eralizations 
misleading 



84 ENGLISH COLONIES PRIOR TO THE REVOLUTION 



various colonies, to tell of the predominating religious influence in 
each. But there was one great tide of emigration that did not 
confine itself to any one settlement, although winning for itself a 
distinctive place in American life and development. These were 
people who had emigrated to the north of Ireland from the border- 
land of England and Scotland shortly after the accession of James 
The Scotch- I as the sovereign of both countries in 1603. Hence they 
gration bccamc knowQ as the Scotch-Irish and they were of the 

Presbyterian faith. Like the New England Pilgrims, they be- 
came dissatisfied with the first land of their adoption and emi- 
grated to America in great numbers 
during the first half of the eighteenth 
century. Finding the Atlantic sea- 
board already occupied, they moved 
westward, for the most part along 
the frontiers of Pennsjdvania, Virginia, 
and the Carolinas. The}^ were sturdy 
colonists and daring fighters, contrib- 
uting wonderfully to the advance of 
English civilization along the western 
frontier. 

45. Governmental Differences. — 
Different as were many of the sepa- 
rate colonies in their religious behefs, 
their forms of government were almost 
as distinct, although all were of English 
origin or subsequently under English 
control. Some colonies had charter 
government, others were under the general direction of proprie- 
tors, and still others were known as royal colonies, or colonies 
more directly controlled by the king. Many of those that began 
under charter governments, as Virginia and Massachusetts, be- 
came royal colonies. 

46. Variation in Industrial Pursuits. — Pursuits were largely 
affected by climatic conditions, by the proximity of fishing banks 
and of fur trade routes, and by the varying fertility of the soil. 



I THE 

I TENTH MUSE 

I Lately^fprurig up in America.!; 
4 OR |l i 

I Several! Poems, Gornpile(l| 
I with great variety of VVit | 

andLcanijng/uU-oidcliuiH. .^ 

Wlicicin elfi-cially is contaim. J a torn- |j- 

. pkatdifcourfeanddefcripdon of 

. (Elements, 



The Tom>Sf'^''f''/' 



ut 



9 



I Togctlicr with 'an E>.act Eplcon 
chcFoiif Mynarcliits, ii<^^. 

Perpan, 

Gruiln, 

F-omr.n. 

I Alio a Dialogic i.^t'.vcn Old F.ntUrJ and 
S .NiWjCOnccrniri,;^ th- Uto troubles. 



Th. 



Avery's History 

TITLE PAGE OF POEMS OF ANNE 
BRADSTREET 



VARIATION IN INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS 



85 



POEMS 



-"v^^y^TC 



Several Occaiions. 




The pursuits of the northern colonists were chiefly along 
commercial lines, although there was a great deal of farming on a 
small scale; but the seasons were shorter than in the Commerce in 

. T rr^ 1 ^^® northern 

south, and the crops more diihcult to raise, with less colonies 
slave labor to produce them and less demand for that kind of 
labor. The negro was not accustomed to cold, and his main- 
tenance in the north was more ^^ ; 
difficult and his usefulness cor- 
respondingly less than in the 
south. New England, indeed, 
so excelled in commercial pur- 
suits that the mother country 
grew jealouL of her success; and, 
strangely enough {Cf. Sec. 31), 
a Puritan Parliament in 1651 
prepared measures intended to 
restrain her growth in that di- 
rection. These were renewed 
by Charles II on his acces- 
sion to the throne in 1660. As a 
rule, both Puritan and Cavalier 
in Britain believed that colonies 
were created for the good of the 
mother country, and, if they 
did not directly increase her wealth, they were of little value. 
For this reason the colonies were forbidden to manufacture 
such articles as might come into competition with those produced 
in Great Britain. Moreover, the ships of other nations Restrictions 

. ' on colonial 

were not permitted to bring goods to the colonies until- manufactures 
they had first stopped in England and had paid duties there. Cer- 
tain products of America were not to be sold an3nvhere outside of 
the British domain; although, by way of compensation to the col- 
onies, these were often given a monopoly in the home markets.^ 

^ This statement of British-colonial trade regulations does not pretend to 
be complete. It aims to present the gist of the matter as concisely and simply 
as possible. See also Sec. 31. 



g^SK^'i^iKS:; 



S B i' R C 



TITLE PAGE OF BOOK OF QUAINT VERSES 
OWNED BY GEORGE WASHINGTON 



86 ENGLISH COLONIES PRIOR TO THE REVOLUTION 

Such were some of the laws pertaining to navigation and 
commerce, which were on the EngHsh statute books for over a 
Colonial eva- ccntury prior to the American Revolution; but these 
navig°It/on regulations were not strictly enforced, so that a pros- 
^^^'^ perous trade sprang up along the colonial coast. James 

Otis, of Massachusetts, estimated that 90 per cent of the goods 
imported into the colonies were either smuggled or brought in with 
the connivance of the British customs officers. This smuggling 
came to be recognized as the regular method of semi-indepen- 
dent states to nullify the intolerant laws made by a distant parlia- 
ment, in which the people of the colonies had no voice or direct 
influence. 

47. Currency. — Intercolonial trade was greatly hampered by 
the variance in value of coin and notes. The coins in circulation 
consisted not only of English pieces but nearly every variety of 
foreign money as well. Coins of the same name or original value 

varied in accordance with 

the amount of metal that 

had been chipped or cut 

Avery's History from thcm. Somctimcs 

AUTOGRAPH OP ANNE BRADSTREET ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^-^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ 

in half. The colonies issued paper money, much of it in disregard 
of parliamentary regulation. These notes varied in value accord- 
ing to the credit of the colony issuing them, and this variance 
caused endless trouble. 

48. Postal Service. — To-day it is such a simple matter to send 
a letter by mail that we do not give a thought as to how the mis- 
sive reaches its destination. In the colonies it was not at all 
certain that a letter would go safely to a destination but a few 
miles away, much less from one colony to another. Parliament, 
however, in 1710 extended the British postal service to America, 
and in 1753 Benjamin Franklin became the first Postmaster- 
General for the colonies. 

49. Newspapers and Periodicals. — Of daily newspapers such 
as we now know there were none in the American colonies. Weekly 



^jfTU Br^i^^Ui^ 



EDUCATION 87 

periodicals appeared in the more important cities from Boston to 
Charleston. These contained but little news and frequently did 
not reach some of their readers until many days or even weeks 
after publication. 

50. Literature. — There were a great many writers of anony- 
mous broadsides and political pamphlets and arguments, but 
there were few writers who could be called authors. Notable 
among these few were Jonathan Edwards, theologian; Benjamin 
Franklin, editor, philosopher and scientist; and William Byrd, 
philosopher and humorist. Poetry, or verses 
that could bear that name, first appeared in 
the southern colonies. Parts of an excellent 
poetical translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses 
were written at Jamestown by George Sandys. 
But in the south there existed an objection to 
following literature as a profession and even 
to the publicity of authorship. The title page 
of a book of American verses owned by George 
Washington bore no clue of authorship other 
than that they were " By a gentleman of A-^>'^»-^-y 

. . TOOTH EXTRACTOR 

Virgmia. 

51. Education. — Education was more generally diffused in 
the northern than in the southern colonies. This is especially true 
of New England. The first of our present American Founding of 

° ^ the first col- 

colleges was founded at Cambridge, in 1636, as a high leges 
school where the sons of Puritan fathers might receive in the 
New World the benefits of education and moral guidance. In the 
south, education was not so general, due very largely to the fact 
that the population was more scattered and the towns small or 
of little consequence. Those who could afford to do so provided 
tutors for their own and sometimes their neighbors' children, or 
sent their sons to English schools and universities; but there 
were also, throughout the rural south, a number of '^old field 
schools," which played an important part in the early education 
of a number of soldiers and statesmen of the eighteenth and 




88 ENGLISH COLONIES PRIOR TO THE REVOLUTION 

nineteenth centuries. ^ William and Mary, the second of our 
existing colleges, was founded at Williamsburg in 1693. Its 
earlier history is unique for the large proportion of its students 
who achieved distinction in the making of the republic.^ The 
growth in the number and influence of the colleges in the northern 
colonies, where population was more concentrated, was note- 
worthy, so that students were attracted to them from all the 
colonies. After the establishment of Harvard there followed in 
the order given: Yale, in Connecticut (1701); Princeton, in New 
Jersey (1746); Pennsylvania (1749); Columbia, in New York 
(1754); and Brown, in Rhode Island (1764). 




Avery's History 

surgeon's saw 

52. Social Customs. — Owing to the fact that communicatmn 
between the colonies was slow and difficult, each preserved for a 
In the long period its peculiar characteristics in manners and 

northern f^ ^ 

colonies social customs. The divisions of society were very 

marked in colonial days. We naturally associate more of the 
spirit of democracy with New England on account of her small 
estates, community life, commercial pursuits, and general edu- 

2 Not long after the Revolution George Washington endowed one of these 
schools. This was Liberty Hall Academy in the Valley of Virginia, since 
grown into Washington and Lee University. It has been pointed out, to the 
credit of the rural schools, that George Washington received his training in 
them, while his elder brothers were educated abroad. 

^ William and Mary educated three Presidents of the United States : 
Jefferson, Monroe, and Tyler; it also educated Chief Justice Marshall, besides 
several score of United States Senators, Representatives, and Federal judges 
and governors of various States. During the first half of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, it began to be eclipsed in its own State by the educational foundations 
of Thomas Jefferson in the University of Virginia (1819). 



SOCIAL CUSTOMS 



89 



cational system; yet even in that section the people sat in church 
according to their rank or social standing, beginning with the upper 
classes in the front pews to the humbler folk in the rear. Slaves 
and indentured servants sat farthest back or in the gallery. 
The same rule applied to students in college, and for one hundred 
years the Harvard catalogue listed its students not in alphabetical 
order, but according to their recognized social position. In some 
of the colonies, people were forbidden by law to dress above their 
position in life. On the whole, it may be said that the middle 





■-iff! M- 



COLONIAL STAGE CO 

colonies, excepting New York with its large landowners, observed 
these distinctions less than any of the others, a difference due, in 
part, to Quaker influences. 

In the south, famihes lived far apart and acquired estates 
according to ability in management or success in raising crops. 
Other than Charleston, a seaport that had an early ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ 
growth and an extensive trade, there were no cities cor- 
responding in size to those in the northern and the middle colonies. 
The southern colonies were almost wholly given over to agricul- 
tural pursuits. The more prosperous farmers were called planters, 
and their estates became known as plantations. Owing to this 



90 ENGLISH COLONIES PRIOR TO THE REVOLUTION 

open-air mode of life, physical hardihood and manly virtues were 
emphasized. Sports of all kinds were encouraged, the majority 
of them being healthful and innocent, although some were brutal, 
such as cock fighting. The entire people were given to hospitality 
to an extent that would be impossible to-day. There were no 
inns or hotels worthy of the name. The stranger was met at the 
door and welcomed to the home, whether it was the one-room 
ca1)in of the mountaineer or the mansion of a planter owning many 
hundreds of acres. This habit of hospitality and the maintenance 
of their farm lands kept even the wealthiest planter at work; 
and the women, in caring for the household and their slave de- 
pendents, had, perhaps, even greater responsibilities than the men. 

53. Agriculture. — Methods of farming were incredibly rude 
and primitive. Even so important an implement of agriculture 
as the plow was made of wood. Little or nothing was known of 
improving or properly cultivating the soil; hence, if its fertility 
became exhausted, old fields were abandoned to make new clear- 
ings from the woodlands. Timber was recklessly cut down and 
much of it was wasted, while enormous fireplaces consumed huge 
logs in a single winter day. The sickle was used to cut the wheat, 
and the flail to thresh it, except when it was trodden out by horses. 

54. Roads and Travel. — The roads in all the colonies were 
wretched and travel was difficult, if not, at times, impossible. 
Stage coaches were provided, particularly in the north; but should 
one of these heavy vehicles become stuck in the mud, the passen- 
gers were expected to get out in the mire and help the horses as 
best they could by pushing or pulling. From New York to Phila- 
delphia in three days was the proudest boast of speed in all the 
colonies, and was accomplished by relays of horses and only in 
good weather. 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

L It shoukl be an interesting exercise to study the peculiar development 
of some one of the original colonies and compare it with others. 

2. The individual self-government of the colonies is a topic capable of 
indefinitely extended illustration. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 91 

3. By 1718 the Carolinas were exporting over 80,000 barrels of pitch and 
tar to the mother country. Virginia and Maryland had almost a monopoly 
of the English trade in tobacco. New England enjoyed an expanding trade 
in lumber, fish, and rum. South Carolina was beginning to export increasing 
quantities of rice and indigo. The iron industry was being developed in 
Pennsylvania. An extensive fur trade was carried on through the port of 
New York. 

4. Try to imagine the difficulties of buying and selling when scarcel}^ any 
two people offered the same kind of money, and when, on account of clipping 
and underweight, scarcely two pieces of money of the same name and denomi- 
nation had the same value. At the present time would a dollar cut in two be 
accepted as the equivalent of two half-dollars? 

5. Imagine some of the difficulties of the letter service of pre-Revolu- 
tionary days. 

6. Private letters spread the news of public interest that the modern 
newspapers present, while the newspapers of those days were badly printed 
chronicles full of the writings of anonymous contributors. 

7. Imagine a trip from New York to Baltimore on the "dirt" roads of 
colonial times. (Sydney George Fisher, Alice IVI. Earle, and other writers 
have prepared interesting volumes on colonial home life, customs, and modes 
of travel.) 



CHAPTER VIII 

Period of Controversy with the British Parliament 

55. Causes of Disagreement between the Colonies and the 
Mother Country. — We have now come to a consideration of the 
causes of the war between the colonists and the mother comitry, 
Colonial self- knowQ as the American Revolution. These causes can- 
government ^^^ ^^ summcd up simply in the oft-quoted phrase, 
"taxation without representation." The truth is that each of the 
colonies had its own system of taxation and representation in 
America, and none of them wanted either to be taxed by or repre- 
sented in a British parliament three thousand miles away. Each 
colony was a commonwealth governing itself to a greater or less 
degree as the people of each had been able to secure or demand 
this self-government under their charters, proprietors, or royal 
governors. In fact, from the first, the colonies had surpassed the 
mother country in extending the principles of popular government. 
They were willing to acknowledge no authority but that of a 
majority of their own voters. 

In the preceding narrative we have seen that the American 
colonies secured and successfully maintained separate representa- 
British at- tive govemmeuts. Now, when king and Parliament, 

tempt to m- 70 7 

terfere with in spltc of the protest of a considerable body of the 

colonial self- t-. . . , , i • i 

government British pcoplc, attempted to assert an authority that 
neither had exercised during the period of colonial expansion, the 
colonies vigorously protested. At first the colonies wished to 
maintain their allegiance to the British empire, chiefly through 
their original relations with their common sovereign. But Parlia- 
ment, since 1689, had assumed much of the power that once was 
wielded by the king; and George III, who had ascended the 
throne in 1760, was obstinately bent on asserting the absolute 
control of Britain over her colonies. Neither the king nor Parlia- 
ment realized how fully self-government had been practised in 
92 



CAUSES OF DISAGREEMENT 93 

the thirteen American colonies; yet all English history showed 
that when once a measure of liberty was gained by English people, 
it was never willingly or permanently surrendered. 

In a vague way, George III and Parliament realized that in the 
very devotion to self-government displayed by the colonies there 
lay a weakness. They thought that the distinctly separate co- 
separate governments and the individual differences e°mmenfs°'^a 
between the colonies would make them less likely to JoniaT weak- 
unite in a common plan of opposition to British control. ^^^^ 
Parliament was willing, for instance, to flatter Virginia while it 
crushed Massachusetts; but Virginia, with farsighted wisdom, 
made the cause of Massachusetts equally her 
own in a general resistance to tyranny. 
Nevertheless, the love of individual self- 
government in those days of difficult commu- 
nication was so great that none of the col- 
onies was any more willing to grant power 
to a united government of their own, in 
which they all had representatives, than they 
were to acknowledge the authority of the 
British Parliament in which none of them 
was represented. Their resistance to British Bom Hanover Co., Va., 

1 iiiii«'ii j.rxu 1 May 29, 1736. Advocate 

rule all but tailed on account oi tne weak- of colonial rights; first go v- 

P 1 • 1 r 1 1 • ernor of Commonwealth of 

ness 01 colonial coniederation. Virginia, i776; Commis- 

-r-» r , • ji i 1 •_• sioned George Roger Clark 

iDCiore entering upon the actual narrative to raise troops for the 
of the Revolution, it is proper to observe op°p''oTed adoption "of Con- 
that a large body of the English people iT^'st^'ten^lmeudmlnu 
were warmly opposed to coercing the colo- 
nies. This opposition sentiment found eloquent but ineffectual 
expression in Parliament in the protests of Pitt and British oppo- 
Fox; of Barre, who gave to Americans the phrase, ernme''nt°ll 
''Sons of Liberty;" and of Burke, whose speech ''On ^°^'"°° 
Conciliation" is studied as one of the famous orations of history. 

On the other hand, not all the colonists favored armed resist- 
ance to Britain; and when this resistance began to point toward 




PATRICK HENRY 



94 CONTROVERSY WITH BRITISH PARLIAMENT 

American independence, they recoiled in horror from the idea of 
disunion. Many persons thought that Parhament would repeal 
strong feel- its unwise enactments, or that a new ministry might 
nTaf loyihy ^t any time come into power with more liberal ideas= 
fove^''o'f Tib^ There were thousands of loyalists in every one of the 
erty English colonies. Some of these supported the British 

for selfish and base purposes, but partisan feeling was so intense 
that little discrimination between them was made by the patriot 
majority. All loyahsts or ''Tories," as they came to be called, 
were distrusted as traitors or possible traitors to the cause of 
American liberty. They were often terribly persecuted; but, 
allied with the Indians, the Tories sometimes revenged themselves 
savagely, and the war caused bitter enmities between former 
friends and neighbors.^ 

Nevertheless, the ''habit of American self-government" over- 
came the feeling of loyalty to the British flag when British domin- 
instances of ion meant loss of liberty, although events hastened 

self - govern- • i i i i • i 

ment disunion more quickly than the patriot party had hoped 

for or had anticipated. We have seen, for example, how the colony 
of Virginia as early as 1619 established a representative assembly 
to make laws for the government of the colony. From this time 
to the Revolutionary War there was a constant assertion of the 
rights of the people, and of the colony, as against royal pleasure 
or parliamentary encroachment. There were, as in all movements 
for the betterment of the human race, periods of reaction, illus- 
trated by the rule of Governor Berkeley and the favored 
friends of the fur trade monopoly; but there was a 
Bacon to meet a Berkeley, and although Bacon perished, the 
principles of this "first rebellion" lived on until another century, 
when the greatest and most liberal of all exponents of human 

^ There is a story to the effect that when Lord Fairfax, the friend and early 
patron of George Washington, learned that the former Major Washington 
was about to take up arms against the British flag, the news proved too great 
a shock for him to bear, and brought on a fatal illness at "Green way Court," 
his home in Virginia. 



CAUSES OF DISAGREEMENT 95 

rights arose in Thomas Jefferson. Virginia had agreed to yield a 
nominal allegiance to the parliamentary form of government 
established in 1649, only on condition that she should be ''free 
from all taxes, customs, and impositions whatsoever," and that 
none w.ere to be imposed without the consent of her own House of 
Burgesses.^ 

Massachusetts, as we have seen, was similarly independent. 
She endowed with almost autocratic power a church that was 
well-nigh outlawed in England; and, reversing the order i^ Massa- 
of things, denied civil rights to the adherents of the 
established church of the mother country. She coined money, 
and, from time to time, sent back to Britain governors whom she 
thought over-meddlesome in the management of her affairs. At 
least on one occasion, under the rule of Charles II, she prepared to 
resist by force, if necessary, threatened encroachments upon her 
long-confirmed liberty of action. What happened in in the other 
these two powerful colonies was, in the main, typical of 
what went on in many others. It may be safely said that in all 
of them the colonists had developed a representative form of 
government which, at that time, the English people themselves 
did not enjoy to the same degree. 

Both king and Parliament regarded their colonies as depen- 
dencies worthy of consideration only as they directl;^ contributed 
to the wealth of the mother country. Hence, laws had ^^^^.^^ ^^^^_ 
been made to regulate colonial trade so as to bring a jation of jo- 
balance of money into Britain; and now, at the close of 
the war with France, Parliament felt itself free to enforce these 
laws. The Spanish colonies had furnished to Spain millions in 
gold and silver from their mines, so it was thought that the British 
colonies should furnish like returns to Britain through the regula- 
tion of their trade and industries. 



2 The charter of the colony of Maryland provided that the people, and 
their lands and goods, were forever exempt from taxation by the king. (C/. 
Sec. 23.) 



96 



CONTROVERSY WITH BRITISH PARLIAMENT 



\ 



This was the generally accepted view of colonial dependencies 
throughout the world prior to the American Revolution. It is 
only fair to the British government to add that its policy was more 
liberal than that of any other European country. If, for instance, 
laws were passed to secure a monopoly in Britain of the colonial 
output in tobacco, at the same time other laws were passed pro- 
^ — ^ hibiting the sale of any but the colonial 

product. A number of the raw products 
of the American colonists were thus enjoy- 
ing a monopoly of the British market. On 
the other hand, the colonists were forbid- 
den to manufacture such things as came 
into competition with British manufac- 
tures. This regulation worked against 
colonial development, but built up a vast 
carrying trade between the colonies and 
Great Britain. Moreover, colonial com- 
merce received the protection of British 
warships and the benefit of large invest- 
ments of British capital. 

The most objectionable laws enacted by 
naiist; prominent in drawing ^^c British parliament wcrc the Naviga- 

up Declaration of Indepen- "^ *=• 





BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 

Born Boston, Mass , Jan. 17, 
1706; moved to Philadelphia 
and became a printer and jour 



dence; represented theConfed- tioU ActS, the first of which WCrC paSSCd aS 

erated States at Pans, securing 

French treaty; President of early as 1651 and rc-cnactcd and changed 
at the time of the Restoration and in later 



Pennsylv ,nia after the Revolu 
tion; member of Constitutional 
Convention; scientist and phil- 
osopher; died in Philadelphia, 
1790. 



enactments. Reference has already been 
made to these,^ the purpose of which was to 
restrict colonial exports and imports in favor of British commerce. 
Thus imposts were fixed and prices set in London over which 
The Naviga- the colonists had no control. The rigid enforcement of 

tionActs ^ ^ 

evaded or ig- thesc laws at any period of colonial development might 

nored, 1651- .,, ii t ^i 

1764 either have prevented that development or have forced 

the colonists into open resistance. But the laws were evaded or 
ignored and commerce went on almost undisturbed. Not only did 



» C/. Sec. 31. 



ATTEMPTED ENFORCEMENT OF TRADE LAWS 97 

the customs officers wink at what was going on, but even prime 
ministers, Hke Walpole and Pitt, did nothing to enforce legislation 
so likely to be injurious to the trade of the American colonies.'* 
The year 1764, however, marked the end of the ''let-alone" 
policy. In equal measure, it marked the beginning of the colo- 
nial struggle for continued liberty of action which was to end in 
complete independence under State and Federal government. 

56. Attempted Enforcement of Trade Laws, 1764. — The Treaty 
of Paris in 1763 marked the close of the series of wars with France 
which had involved Europe and had won 
America for Britain, as far west as the Mis- 
sissippi and from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf 
of Mexico. The expense of these wars had 
been a heavy drain on the British treasury 
and the nation was deeply in debt. British 
ministers began to look to the colonists for 
help in the payment of this debt. They 
argued that a great deal of British money 
had been expended in the colonial wars; that 
British soldiers were even then engaged in joh^ hancock 

fighting frontier battles against Pontiac and , b^'-" ^V-.^T^'^'r^^,^^''".' 

, ^ . . Jan. 23, 1/37. Colonial 

his Indian allies; that the colonies should leader; president of Conti- 

, «,, 11. , 1 1 ,^ iji nental Congress that drew 

pay part of the debt contracted through the up Declaration of indepen- 
prosecution of these wars; and that they ^^L^.U^tfts^u^d^^sta^e 
should help defray the expense of a small Constitution, i78o. Died 
standing army m America. 

First of all, the almost prohibitory tax or tariff on colonial im- 
portation was taken off and one that was half as high substituted 
for it. But this tax was to be enforced, and the colonists p "".o * ^ t * 

' ^ V o 1 c e d by 

correctly figured that three pence paid was a heavier Samuei ^\d- 
tax than six pence which was generally unpaid. The euii Haii 
tax affected New England particularly, and a meeting w^as held 
in Faneuil Hall, Boston, in which Samuel Adams prepared in- 

* Cf. Sec. 46. 
7 




98 CONTROVERSY WITH BRITISH PARLIAMENT 

structions for presentation at the general court, in the course of 
which he asserted that this proposed pohcy of Parhament threat- 
ened to annihilate "our Charter Right to govern mid tax our- 
selves.^' He then suggested some form of colonial union, the 
better to resist such encroachments upon American liberties.^ 

57. The Stamp Act Passed, 1765. — The second proceeding of 
the Grenville ministry was to propose a Stamp Act to defray the 
expense of the soldiers in the colonies. A year was given for its 
discussion or for anyone to bring forward a measure likely to be 
more agreeable to the colonies. None was brought forward, and 
the Stamp Act was passed in 1765 with little accompanying dis- 
cussion. Few seemed to think that it would arouse serious oppo- 
sition in America. Even Benjamin Franklin, Richard Henry Lee, 
and other Americans who had been brought into contact with the 
English court sought for themselves or their friends positions as 
stamp-distributors. The Stamp Act provided that all official and 
public documents, such as wills and mortgages, newspapers and 
pamphlets should be provided with stamps prepared by the 
English government, and purchased from the officials appointed 
for their distribution. 

But the Stamp Act, as a measure of taxation in opposition to 
colonial ideas of self-government and self-taxation, met with 
violent opposition in America. Patrick Henry rose in Patrick 

Henry urges 

the Virginia House of Burgesses and made an impas- resistance 
sioned speech against it which brought forth cries of "treason" 
from the more conservative members of the house. Neverthe- 
less, most of the resolutions proposed by Henry passed. One 
of these resolutions denied that Parliament had the right to tax 
the colony of Virginia. That, said Henry, was the exclusive right 
of the Assembly of Virginia, together with its governor as the 
representative of the king. 

5 Protests against threatened parliamentary encroachment upon colonial 
rights and self-government had been made by James Otis of Massachusetts 
in 1761, and by Patrick Henry of Virginia in 1763. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 99 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. If the student's impressions of Sec. 55 are clear, he will understand 
not only the causes of the revolt of the English-American colonies, but he 
will grasp a great deal more than that— he will better comprehend the origin 
and dual nature of the United States government as illustrated in its State 
and Federal spheres. 

2. The colonies were jealous of one another from religious, political, and 
commercial reasons. Many campaigns planned or directed against the French 
and Indians failed for lack of cooperation. Contrast this attitude with the 
spirit in which the people in all the colonies rallied to the aid of Massachusetts 
when the question of local self-government was involved. 

3. Why were the colonies jealous of any government that they themselves 
might unite in creating? This is another matter of first importance toward a 
clear understanding of United States history. 

4. The student is probably familiar with the general tenor of Edmund 
Burke's "Speech on Concihation" with the American colonies. Suppose the 
king and Parliament had heeded Burke's views? 

5. Incidents from the history of Virginia and Massachusetts are given 
as examples of self-government. Perhaps the student will be interested in 
finding additional illustrations in the history of the other colonies. 

6. Try to understand the point of view of the British government with 
regard to the colonies ; for instance, as to raising money to defray the expense 
of the French and Indian war, the destruction of the tea, etc. 



CHAPTER IX 

Period of Controversy with British Parliament — Begin- 
nings OF Intercolonial Union 

58. First United Action of the Colonies. — Patrick Henry had 
''rung the alarm bell" for the continent, and the Massachusetts 
Assembly responded by proposing a conference of representatives 
from all the colonies. After some of the colonies had refused their 
assent to such a conference, the motion of Massachusetts was 
seconded by South Carolina under the leadership of Christopher 
Gadsden; while the speaker of the North Carolina assembly said 
boldly that the execution of the Stamp Act would be resisted to 
the death. ^ 

Consequently, what is known as the Stamp Act Congress met 

in New York in October, 1765. In the name of nine of the colonies 

it addressed to the king and to both houses of Parlia- 

Stamp Act ^ 

Congress is- ment able and dignified protests against the infringe- 

sues protest » j- » o 

ment of their long-enjoyed right to tax themselves 
through their own representative bodies. New Hampshire, Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, and Georgia were not officially represented; 
but messages of encouragement and support came from the people 
of those colonies. The leading spirits of this assemblage were 
James Otis of Massachusetts and John Dickinson of Pennsylvania. 
Other bodies of protestants against the act were formed in 
many of the colonies under the title of ''Sons of Liberty." One of 
Popular op- the purposes of these bodies was to intimidate the 
position stamp distributors and to prevent the execution of the 

act. November 1, the day that the act was to go into effect, was 
made a day of mourning. But, owing to the exertions of the 

1 The county court of Frederick, Maryland, declared that the stamp tax, 
being contrary to the charter of the colony, should be disregarded. 
100 



PAELIAMENT PASSES TAXATION MEASURES 101 

"Sons of Liberty," no stamp distributors could be found, and no 
stamps were to be had. The Stamp Act was rendered inoperative 
by the united opposition of the people. 

59. Repeal of the Stamp Act. — In England, Pitt denounced the 
Act and it was repealed by Parliament in the following spring. 
The news of its repeal was received with almost equal demonstra- 
tions of joy on either side of the ocean; for the mercantile interests 
of Britain had suffered greatly by colonial agreements not to 
import or use English-made goods. Parliament, however, re- 
announced its legislative right to tax the colonies, and in the 
general rejoicing no protest was heard from America. New York 
and some of the other colonies continued to withhold supplies 
from British troops. Massachusetts did not wish to pay for 
the damage done to individuals in the stamp riots, yet in every 
colony there were open manifestations of loyalty to the British- 
colonial tie in the common acknowledgment of the sovereignty 
of the king. 

60. Parliament Passes other Taxation Measures. — The satis- 
faction resulting from the repeal of the Stamp Act was disturbed 
by the determination of the new Townshend ministry to force 
through other acts for the raising of revenue by the imposition of 
taxes or tariffs. These measures were cleverly enacted under the 
guise of plans for regulating trade, a form of control which the 
colonists had conceded or submitted to in return for naval pro- 
tection of merchant ships. But the whole attitude of the English 
ministry showed a desire to tax the colonies without their consent, 
and the Stamp Act had aroused a spirit of opposition and distrust 
in America. Consequently, when the Townshend acts The Town- 

^ "^ ' shend Acts, 

were passed in 1767, the colonists were suspicious and i"67 
ready to resist any taxing measures that were proposed These 
acts provided special tariffs or imposts on certain articles, among 
which were glass, paper, and tea. A second act provided for the 
appointment of special revenue officers for America; while a 
third act forbade the New York Assembly to pass laws until it 
should provide for the maintenance of British soldiers. 



102 CONTROVERSY WITH BRITISH PARLIAMENT 

Subsequent to the passage of these acts, there were three years 
of steady resistance by the colonists, which took the form of 
Opposition in agreements on their part not to import or use the arti- 
the colonies ^j^^ which wcrc taxcd. Sometimes this resistance led 
to rioting. A notable instance of this occurred in 1768, when 
revenue commissioners were obliged to flee to the protection of a 
In Massa- war ship in the harbor of Boston. Thereupon four 
chusetts regiments of British soldiers were quartered in that 

city. This aroused the people, and there were clashes between 
troops and citizens. The worst of these encounters occurred on 
March 5, 1770, when the soldiers, being attacked by a mob, fired 
into the crowd, killing five and wounding others.^ New York 
In New York had similar trouble in the preceding January. Riot- 
ing extended over two days subsequent to an attempt of the 
soldiers to cut down a liberty pole, during which one citizen lost 
In North his life aiid many others were wounded. In North Car- 
Carohna oliua coiistaut clashcs between tyrannical governors 
and the people had led to the formation of a band of "Regulators" 
in lawless resistance to arbitrary taxation. The royal governor, 
Tryon, set out with a large force to suppress them; a pitched battle 
ensued, and the badly armed Regulators were defeated. Nine of 
Tryon's soldiers were killed, and at least a score of the Regulators. 
Seven of the latter were afterwards summarily hanged as an ex- 
ample to others.^ 

~ Excitement and intense feeling magnified this street fight to such an 
extent that it became known as "The Boston Massacre." The soldiers were 
tried according to due process of law, and, greatly to the credit of Boston, 
were, for the most part, acquitted on the ground that they had acted in self- 
defense. John Adams and Josiah Quincy defended the "red-coats," an act 
which required moral courage of a very high order. 

3 This conflict occurred at Great Alamance Creek, ]\Iay 16, 1771; and, on 
account of the number of those on either side and the use of cannon, the con- 
flict is sometimes referred to as the ''Battle of Alamance." The number of 
Regulators killed in this encounter has, in some accounts, been estimated 
at 200. 



THE TEA TAX 103 

The following year, 1772, some of the citizens of Rhode Island 
captured and destroyed one of the British vessels that had been 
active in collecting duties from ships coming into the i^ Rhode is- 
port of Providence. The British revenue officers were ^^^^ 
powerless to apprehend or punish those connected with this de- 
fiance of authority, although it was generally believed that they 
were well known in the community. In fact, affairs had reached 
such a crisis that if any attempt had been made to arrest and 
punish those resisting parliamentary enactments, open fighting 
would have resulted. 

61. Parliament vs. Colonial Assemblies. — A battle of resolu- 
tions followed these acts, resolutions on the part ol Parliament 
denouncing them, and calling for the arrest of their perpetrators; 
and, on the other hand, resolutions by colonial assembhes, denying 
the right of Parliament to pass laws for the government of the 
colonies without the consent of the latter. In many cases, colonial 
assemblies were dismissed or prorogued by the royal governors. 

62. Summary. — In the preceding pages it has been seen that 
Parliament had passed the Stamp Act in 1765, repealing it in 
response to general objection in 1766. It announced, however, 
its right to tax the colonies. This was the first step. The second 
step came in the Townshend Acts, which, among other provisions, 
declared taxes on certain articles. This was met by non-impor- 
tation agreements on the part of the colonies for three years. 

63. The Tea Tax. — Parliament now took another step, seem- 
ingly as ill-advised as the others. This time it removed the tax from 
all articles except tea, and the rate on that was purposely made so 
low that the colonists could get their tea at less cost than they had 
been getting it through smuggling. Parliament hoped by this plan 
to establish its right to tax the colonies without objections from 
them; but the measure did not deceive the Americans, who were 
just as shrewd as the English, and who saw the purpose of the act. 

Everywhere the importation of tea was resented or resisted. 
At Boston, on the night of December 16, 1773, a party of men, 
disguised as Indians, boarded the tea ships in the harbor and threw 



104 



CONTROVERSY WITH BRITISH PARLIAMENT 



"Tea 
ties" 



the obnoxious tea overboard. At Annapolis, a number of the citi- 
zens of the town and the surrounding country openly compelled 
par- the owner of a vessel of imported tea to burn the ship 
with its entire cargo. In Charleston the tea was seized, 
and, subsequent to the Declaration of Independence, sold to defray 
the expenses of the State in the Revolutionary War. In Philadel- 
phia and New York, the people resolved that the tea should not 
be landed, and turned the ships away. 

In England these acts were regarded as acts of insurrection or 
rebellion, involving the lawless destruction of private property 
British view worth many thousands of pounds. It was an open de- 
struction ^of fiance of British authority. The colonists of Boston 
the tea ^^^ Massachusctts had now made themselves particu- 

larly odious to the king and Parliament. In the matter of the 
tea they had done no more than the people in several other colo- 
nies, but their action with regard to the tea 
capped the climax of a long series of difficul- 
ties between the people of the colony and the 
authorities of the mother country in politics, 
religion, and trade. 

64. Parliament Passes the "Intolerable 
Acts." — Consequently, in 1774, Parliament 
passed five measures which became known as 
the "Intolerable Acts;" four of these were 
aimed at Massachusetts in particular, while 
the fifth limited the western boundaries of all 
the colonies north of the Carolinas. The first 
of these acts was the Boston Port Bill, which 
declared Boston harbor closed to commerce 
until the tea destroyed there was paid for ; the 
second was the Massachusetts Government 
Act, which was intended to deprive the people 
of Massachusetts of a great measure of the self- 
government that they had hitherto enjoyed; the third was the 
Administration of Justice Act, which provided that all magistrates, 




ALEXANDER HAMILTON 

Born West Indies, Jan. 
11, 1757; educated at 
King's College, N. Y.; be- 
came, at 17, a colonial 
leader; served in Conti- 
nental army with mari^ed 
success, promoted to staff 
of Washington; leader in 
Constitutional Conven- 
tion; first Secretary of 
Treasury under Washing- 
ton ; was mortally wounded 
bv Aaron Burr in duel, July 
11, 1804. 



THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 105 

revenue officers, and soldiers accused of murder or other capital 
crimes incurred in the execution of their official duties were to be 
tried in Britain or Nova Scotia; the fourth was an act providing for 
the quartering of British troops on the people; and the fifth of 
these "Intolerable Acts" was that known as the Quebec Act, which 
provided that all the British territory west of the Alleghenies and 
north of the Ohio was to be included in the province of Quebec. 

Although, as shown above, four of these acts were directed 
principally against Boston and Massachusetts, the other colonies, 
from motives of self-interest as well as for patriotic The British 
reasons, made the cause of Massachusetts their own; ietermTnes 
for, if Massachusetts were compelled to submit, the example^ ^Jf 
rest of the British- American colonies would be forced, chus^^f/cSi- 
one after another, to yield to the control of the British °'^^' 
Parliament. Hence, the effect of these laws was to draw the colo- 
nies into a bond of common sympathy and united effort. This was 
shown by the aid which was immediately sent to Boston from all 
parts of the country, in the form of provisions and monej^, the 
first help coming from distant South Carolina, which colony sent 
200 barrels of its staple product, rice. In Virginia and Pennsyl- 
vania the day that the Boston Port Bill went into effect was made 
a day of fasting and prayer. 

65. The First Continental Congress, 1774. — As Massachusetts 
had once led in asking for cooperation among the colonists, so 
now Virginia took the lead in declaring for a general conference. 
Other calls for cooperation from a number of colonies resulted in 
the meeting, on September 5, 1774, of the first Continental Con- 
gress, which was composed of delegates from all the colonies 
except Georgia."^ The Congress announced the right of important 

. declarations 

the colonies to govern and tax themselves, and defi- of the first 

• 1 It- . • 1 r. T^ 1- Continental 

nitely recorded its opposition to the acts of Parliament Congress 
which infringed upon these rights. The members prepared two 
petitions, one to the people of Great Britain, and one to the king. 

4 The royal governor of Georgia succeeded in preventing the appointment 
of delegates. 



106 



CONTROVERSY WITH BRITISH PARLIAMENT 



In addition, the Congress drew up an agreement not to sell to 
or buy from British merchants until the objectionable acts were 
repealed by Parliament. It commended the people of Massa- 
chusetts for their resistance, and declared that if Parliament 
should use force to compel Massachusetts to submit, the other 
colonies would make the cause of Massachusetts their own. The 
Congress then adjourned to meet in the following May. 

66. Rapid Progress of Events in Massachusetts. — Events were 
now approaching a crisis. In Massachusetts there was practically 



r I 




BRITISH RETREAT FROM CONCORD 



a suspension of royal government. Gloucester had been made 
the port of entry of Massachusetts instead of Boston, and Salem 
the seat of government. General Gage was in charge of the troops 
quartered in Boston, and although he was the regularly appointed 
governor in Massachusetts, his authority was not recognized 
beyond the limits of his military command. 

Early in 1775 General Gage had received instructions to arrest 
some of the prominent leaders of the patriot party, among whom 
were Samuel Adams and John Hancock. These leaders had pru- 
dently taken up their residence at Lexington instead of in Boston, 



LEXINGTON AND CONCORD 107 

subsequent to their return from the meeting of the Continental 
Congress in 1774. It was also the intention of General Gage to 
seize military stores that the Americans had collected at Attempted 
Concord, a few miles beyond Lexington. A body of 800 laams^ *and 
troops was accordingly dispatched early in the morn- ^^"^"^'^ 
ing of April 19, 1775, to accomplish the doul^le purpose of arresting 
Adams and Hancock and of seizing supplies at Concord. The 
march was to be made secretly, but the first movement of the 
troops in Boston was detected; so that Paul Revere and William 
Dawes, pickets or watchmen of the minutemen, were enabled to 
set out in advance on a midnight ride to warn the people of their 
coming.^ 

67. Lexington and Concord, 1775. — Adams and Hancock re- 
ceived timely notice and escaped arrest. The British soldiers 
found the country thoroughly aroused and sent back word to 
Boston for reinforcements. At daybreak, on the village green at 
Lexington, Major Pit cairn found Captain John Parker and 70 
minutemen assembled. Pitcairn rode up and exclaimed: ''Dis- 
perse, ye rebels, disperse!" The minutemen refused to obey, and 
the soldiers fired with fatal effect. It is not knoAvn whether the 
British soldiers fired through a mistake or by orders, or whether 
the minutemen first prepared to fire, but 7 Americans were killed 
and 10 wounded as the result of the first encounter between 
American militia and British regulars. 

The British soldiers continued their march to Concord. Here 
they were opposed by 400 militiamen, who began the fighting 
near that place. But the whole countryside was awake to the 
invasion, and minutemen swarmed from all directions "like angry 
bees from overturned hives;" so that the British commander 
ordered a retreat to Boston. A steady fire was directed upon the 
troops as they at first marched and then ran. The weather was 
unusually warm for a day in April, and the soldiers suffered from 

5 After he had reached Lexington and had warned Adams and Hancock, 
Revere was captured and taken to Lexington by the British, but Dawes rode 
on to Concord. 



108 CONTROVERSY WITH BRITISH PARLIAMENT 

the heat. Scores of them fell on the road as the minutemen fired 
at them from houses, trees, and fences along the route. So deadly 
was this attack that only the timely arrival of reinforcements and 
artillery from Boston saved the troops from annihilation. The 
British loss has been variously estimated to have been from 178 
to 400. The American loss was 49 killed and 36 wounded. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Note carefully what is said in Sec, 58 of the appcd to Parliament by 
the Stamp Act Congress. There was no expression of any wish for represen- 
tation, James Otis had written in 1764 (" The Rights of the British Colonies 
Asserted and Proved ") that every part of His Majesty's dominions "has the 
right to be represented in the supreme or some subordinate legislature;" but 
because of the distance between the colonies and the mother country, and for 
other reasons, it was better that there should be in Parliament '^neither colonial 
representation nor colonial taxation.^' 

2. Compare the troubles and conflicts occurring prior to the Revolution 
in Boston, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. 

3. Imagine the effect on British trade and commerce of the colonial non- 
importation agreements. 

4. Compare the reception accorded the tea in the different cities of the 
Atlantic seaboard, 

5. Patrick Henry, in opposing the Stamp Act (May, 1765), declared 
before the Virginia House of Burgesses: "Caesar had his Brutus; Charles 
the First, his Cromwell; and George the Third" (here Henry was interrupted 
by cries of "Treason!" from the Speaker and other Burgesses, but he con- 
cluded) — "and George the Third may profit by their example. If this be 
treason, make the most of it." Again, he said, in perhaps the most famous 
of his speeches, which was delivered March 23, 1775: "Is life so dear, or peace 
so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains or slavery? Forbid 
it. Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, 
give me liberty, or give me death!" 



CHAPTER X 

First Period of the Revolution — Armed Resistance 
TO Parliament 

68. The Battle of Bunker Hill, 1775.— The colonists were not 
fighting for independence, but war had begun, and a counterstroke 
to the Concord raid was promptly planned by the Americans. In 
a few days General Gage was besieged in Boston by an army of 
militia numbering from 12,000 to 15,000 men. On the British 
side, Generals Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne arrived with rein- 
forcements, making a total of about 10,000 regulars. 

The Americans now determined to seize Bunker Hill on the 
Charlestown peninsula. Thither 1200 men were dispatched on 
the night of June 16 under Colonel Prescott, who began to fortify 
Breed's Hill, which was nearer the city. In the morning the 
British discovered that the Americans had thrown up intrench- 
ments and were threatening their control of Boston.^ 

Three thousand ''redcoats," under General Howe, were sent 
to make a frontal attack on the Americans, with the evident 
expectation that the untrained militia would fire a volley and flee 
at their approach. The Americans were badly armed and inade- 
quately supplied with powder, but they had decided upon an 
unusual plan to make the most of what they had. Orders were 
given not to fire until the long, steady lines of redcoats were almost 
upon them. Then, at the command, a leaden storm broke over 
the British troops, killing many and driving the rest, demoralized, 
down the hill. At the bottom their officers reorganized them, 

1 The fight has gone into history as the battle of Bunker Hill. The " Bunker 
Hill" monument, marking the field of battle, is on Breed's Hill. In some of 
the older historical books, such as Graham's Life of General Morgan, we find 
''Breed's Hill" exclusively. 

109 



110 



FIRST PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION 



and again they marched up to the American intrenchments. 
Again the Americans mowed them down with steady aim, only 
to see them re-form and prepare for the third charge. This time 
the British were successful, and the Americans, insufficiently 
supplied with powder, were driven off the Charlestown peninsula. 
Although the conflict resulted in final defeat for the Americans, 
its conduct inspired the colonial troops with confidence and demon- 
strated an ability to cope 
with the trained soldiers 
of the British army. The 




British loss in killed and 
wounded was 1054, of 
whom 157 were officers, 
Major Pitcairn being 
among those killed. 
The American loss was 
449, the most notable 
among the slain being the 
brave General Joseph 
Warren of Boston.^ 

69. The Second Continental Congress, 1775.— In the mean- 
time, on the 10th of May, 1775, the Second Continental Congress 
Acts of Sec- met at Philadelphia. Colonial opposition had now 
ond Congress g^^^ g^ £^j. ^j^^^ -^ ^^g ucccssary for this Congress to 

assume some general authority over all the colonies with, of course, 

2 Ticonderoga and other forts along the Vermont-New York border were 
surprised and captured by Colonels Ethan Allen of Vermont and Benedict 
Arnold of Connecticut. The cannon captured in these forts were of incalcu- 
lable value to the American forces. 



BOSTON AND VICINITY 



THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 111 

the consent of the representatives of each. Among the first 
things that the Congress did was to adopt the forces around 
Boston as the Continental army, the term ''Continental" now 
coming into use to represent the colonies acting collectively. It 
appointed Washington commander-in-chief, issued paper money, 
and called for additional troops. Congress, however, still ac- 
knowledged the king of England as its lawful head, and thus 
there ensued a conflict between the American Congress and the 




/ 'n 



BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL, FROM PICTURE BY TRUMBULL, IN THE YALE COLLEGE GALLERY 

British Parliament for one year; but as George III was found to 
be irrevocably on the side of Parliament, Congress and the colo- 
nies were soon forced to declare themselves wholly independent. 
This Second Continental Congress was composed of very able 
men. Washington was there with his calm counsel Membership 
and unselnsn patriotism. Accompanying him from gress 
Virginia were Thomas Jefferson, the future author of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, and the eloquent and fiery Patrick Henry. 



112 FIRST PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION 

Pennsylvania sent Benjamin Franklin, who had represented the 
cause of the colonies in Britain, and Robert Morris, who became 
known as the "financier of the Revolution." Massachusetts sent 
John Hancock, president of the Congress; John Adams, after- 
wards President of the United States; and Samuel Adams, a 
popular leader of the patriot cause. 

70. Washington Takes Command of the Continental Forces. — 
Washington took up his duties as commander-in-chief of the Con- 
tinental forces on July 2, 1775, and at once began the difficult task 
of forming an effective fighting organization out of raw colonial 
militia. Although American privateers had already begun to 
capture supply ships from England, the lack of the essentials of 
The first war rendered Washington's position perilous for many 

Continen- * i . • ^ • i ,^ 

tai flag months. At this time a Continental flag was adopted, 

which was composed of thirteen alternate red and white stripes 
to represent the colonies, and the double cross of the British flag 
to represent their continued allegiance to the king. The Conti- 
nental army adopted a uniform of blue and buff, although as a 
rule the soldiers wore hunting shirts, which were dyed brown. 
Shortly after his arrival at the intrenchments around Boston, 
Washington began to lay plans for the closer investment of that 
city, and recruits began to come from other colonies.^ 

The British, on their part, made no energetic efforts to assail 
the intrenchments of the Americans; so that Washington, instead 
Washing- of fighting, was confronted by the even more difficult 

ton's difficult .... ,. . .. ^ , . 

position task of maintaining discipline for many months m an 

army of citizen soldiery very much given to personal independence 
of action. In truth, the militia had enlisted for a short time only, 
and Washington at one period of the siege had practically to 
organize a new army in the face of the enemy. 

3 Among these was a band of one hundred volunteers under Daniel Morgan, 
who had marched the entire distance from their homes in the Valley of Vir- 
ginia. Their rude fringed hunting shirts proved an object of mirth to the 
Massachusetts militia, but Morgan's riflemen soon demonstrated their real 
worth in battle. 



HOSTILITIES IN VIRGINIA 113 

71. Evacuation of Boston. — In March, 1776, a night movement 
was planned in which Dorchester Heights, commanding the city 
of Boston on the south, was seized and fortified. This movement 
made Boston untenable by the British, so that after a siege which 
had lasted nearly a year Boston was evacuated and the British 
forces went from there to Halifax. There was no more fighting 
of special consequence in New England throughout the war. 
The scenes of the remaining battles of the Revolution were to be 
laid in the middle and southern colonies.^ 

72. Hostilities in Virginia. — In the other colonies, where there 
was as yet no large force of British troops, there was manifested 
the same spirit of determined resistance to the domination of 
Parliament. As early as March 25, 1775, Patrick Henry had 
moved that Virginia be put in a state of defense, and later the 
roval Governor Dunmore sought safety on board a Governor 

" . , 1 • T-w Dunmore 

British warship. Dunmore threatened to hang Henry tries to incite 

HGffro slaves 

and burn Williamsburg. Collecting a fleet of war ves- and Indiana 

against the 

sels, he tried to rouse the Indians ; he also offered general Virginians 
emancipation to the negro slaves if they would rise in insurrection. 
Dunmore was not successful in arousing either the Indians or the 
negroes; and, after a series of raids along the coast, a part of his 
force was met and defeated by Colonel Woodford at Great Bridge, 
near Norfolk, December 9, 1775. Later Dunmore bombarded 
and burned the greater part of Norfolk.^ 

^ Early in the course of colonial opposition to Parliament, Congress hoped 
that the people of Canada would cooperate with an invading colonial army. 
Consequently, Benedict Arnold, after a wonderful march through the IMaine 
wilderness, had entered Canada, where he was to cooperate with Schuyler, 
Morgan, and Montgomery. Arnold and the last two officers made a daring 
but hopeless attack upon the stronghold of Quebec. Montgomery was killed, 
many of the men were captured, and the rest ultimately driven back to Ticon- 
deroga after a stout resistance under Arnold. 

^ Washington hoped that the burning of Norfolk would ''unite the whole 
country in one indissoluble band." A patriot lieutenant in the fight at Great 
Bridge was John Marshall, afterwards Chief Justice of the United States 
Supreme Court. 
8 



114 FIRST PERIOD 01 THE REVOLUTION 

73. Fighting in North Carolina. — In the eventful month of 
April, 1775, the people of North Carolina drove the royal governor 
out of the colony; and, in the following month, at Charlotte, 
North Carolina, the citizens of Mecklenburg County declared the 
British government suspended. Part of the British plan for 1776 
included the invasion of North Carolina under General Clinton 
and Sir Peter Parker. There were many Scotch highland royalists 
in the colony, who hastened to raise a force to cooperate with 
Battle of the British. About 1600 of these loyalists under Don- 
Creek^Bridge! ^Id MacDonald marched down the Cape Fear River, 
Feb. 27. 1776 ^^^ ^^ Moorc's Crcck Bridge, February 27, 1776, 
fiercely attacked 1000 patriot riflemen under Colonels Caswell and 
Lillington. But the patriot party won a brilliant and overwhelm- 
ing victory, capturing several hundred of the loyalists. Sir Peter 
Parker, therefore, not finding the assistance he had hoped for, 
passed on to South Carolina. 

74. First British Invasion of the South, 1776. — Under the 
lead of Henry Laurens, the patriot party in South Carolina had 
seized the royal arsenal and munitions of war long before the news 
of Lexington and Concord had reached that colony. Some months 
later, the royal governor withdrew from the colony and John 
Rutledge was vested by the Colonial Assembly with the power of 
Governor. Under Rutledge 5000 Carolina militia were enlisted 
for the defense of that colony. Charleston, its leading seaport, 
was then one of the most prosperous of the American cities. In 
June, 1776, Clinton and Parker prepared to reduce it to submission. 
In the meantime, however. Colonel William Moultrie, with a 
kind of careless skill, had constructed fortifications of palmetto 
logs at the southern end of Sullivan's Island, at the entrance to 
the harbor of Charleston. Here was placed a defending force of 
about 1200 men, while several hundred men and a battery were 
sent to defend the northern end of the island against a possible 
landing party. 

The British attack began on the morning of June 28, 1776, 
and consisted of a bombardment of Fort Sullivan from a fleet of 



FIRST BRITISH INVASION OF THE SOUTH 115 

war vessels, aided by a landing force of several thousand men 
under Sir Henry Clinton. The latter were promptly repulsed by 
the guns of the battery at the north end of the island. British de- 
The British fleet, however, began a heavy bombard- chaAls'ton! 
ment that lasted ten hours. The Americans returned J"°e28, i776 
the cannonade with great effect, while the shots of the British 
sank almost harmlessly into the soft palmetto logs. As at Bunker 
Hill, the powder supply was meagre; but the Americans, using 
to advantage what they had, fired with the cool precision of 
trained soldiers, and did terrible execution on board the British 
ships. The flagship of Admiral Parker was made a wreck, he 
himself was wounded, and only one of the other nine vessels was 
immediately able to put to sea after the battle. No more disas- 
trous defeat of a British armament is reported in history.^ 

Besides the damage inflicted upon their fleet, the British lost 
200 men in the conflict, while the American loss was but 12 killed 
and 25 wounded. The Adceon ran aground on the Results of 
present site of Fort Sumter and was burned by the *^® victory 
Americans, not, however, before its guns were first directed at the 
other British ships. As the engagement at Bunker Hill and the 
evacuation of Boston freed New England from British armies, 
so the successful defense of Fort Moultrie (so named after the 
battle) for a period of three years saved South Carolina and the 
other southern colonies from invasion. Moreover, this first de- 
cisive victory of the patriot party preceded the Declaration of 
Independence but a few days, and, becoming known at about the 
same time, no doubt nerved the hearts of all Americans for that 
great announcement. 

^ During the hottest part of the bombardment, the flagstaff on Fort 
Sulhvan was cut down and the flag fell outside the walls of the fort. Sergeant 
Wilham Jasper leaped down, secured the flag, attached it to a sponge staff, 
and replaced it on the ramparts. He was later offered a lieutenant's commis- 
sion in recognition of his inspiring act, but he modestly refused it. Lord 
William Campbell, the expelled royal governor of South Carolina, while on 
the flagship of Sir Peter Parker, was mortally wounded. 



116 FIRST PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Compare the battles of Bunker Hill and Fort Moultrie. More extended 
accounts should prove interesting to the student. 

2. Why was Major Pit cairn mentioned in connection ^vith Bunker Hill? 
Seep. 110. 

3. Compare the position assumed by the Second Continental Congress 
with that taken by the First in the previous year. See Sees. 65 and 69. 

4. While the British and the Americans were fighting each other around 
Boston, American ministers were still prajnng for King George or for recon- 
ciliation. It is said that on one occasion the American soldiers were so noisily 
celebrating the king's birthday that the British in Boston got ready to repel 
what they thought were preparations for an attack. Abigail Adams, however, 
wrote to her husband, John Adams, that she could not join in the prayers 
for reconciliation, closing wdth the expression: "Let us separate." 



CHAPTER XI 

Second Period of the Revolution — From the Defense of 

Fort Moultrie to the Surrender of Burgoyne — 

Independence Declared 

75. The Colonies Consider Independence. — There had now ex- 
isted between the colonies and the mother country an actual state 
of war for over a year, in which time British troops had Colonial loy- 

•^ ' -^ alty to the 

been driven out of New England and had met with British em- 

^ , . pire under 

decisive defeat in South Carolina. In addition, there the sovereign 
had been some form of conflict with British authority in every 
one of the colonies. During this period, although the colonists 
were shooting the king's soldiers, they were all the while declaring 
that they were loyal subjects of His Majesty. This curious con- 
dition could not last indefinitely. 

A number of events contributed to hasten a change of attitude 
on the part of the colonies. In the first place, although a number 
of oflacers in the British service had resigned rather than Uncompro- 

raising atti- 

serve in America against their countrymen, and al- tude of king 

^ . and Parlia- 

though the people of London had declared their oppo- ment 
sition to measures '' designed to oppress our fellow-subjects" in 
the colonies, it was clearly seen that those in the mother country 
who advocated concession or conciliation had little influence with 
Parliament or the king. On the other hand, the king The hiring of 

^ ^ Hessian sol- 

and Parliament were now readv to proceed to extreme diers by the 

^ , British gov- 

measures. Large sums of money were expended in se- emment 
curing thousands of mercenary troops from foreign countries to 
carry on the war against the colonies.^ Furthermore, the exposed 

1 These troops were drafted from the subjects of the numerous petty 
princes of the German states, who sold their ser\dces to anyone who would 
paj-- for them. As many of those who served in America were subjects of the 
Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel, Hessians became a general term applied to all 
Germans in the British service. 

117 



118 



SECOND PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION 



towns on the Atlantic coast had been harshly treated by British 
frigates, and some of them had been bombarded and burned. 

These events, therefore, greatly quickened a sentiment that 
had been setting strongly toward a declaration of complete inde- 
Advocates of pendencc of the mother country. Prominent in work- 

indepen-. , 

dence mg for Separation were such men as John and bamuel 

Adams, of Massachusetts; Nathanael Greene, of Rhode Island; 
Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania; Samuel Chase, of Maryland; 




Christopher Gadsden, of South Carolina; and Richard Henry 
Lee, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington, 
of Virginia.^ 

2 In January, 1776, a pamphlet was published in Philadelphia under the 
title of "Common Sense." It was written by Thomas Paine, an Enghshman 
who had recently emigrated to the colonies. Paine wrote that, "The period 
of debate is closed; arms, as the last resource, decide the contest." This pam- 
phlet strikingly presented the arguments for independence, which were thus 
given a wide circulation among the people. 



CONTINENTAL CONGRESS FOR INDEPENDENCE 119 

Georgia first gave freedom of action to her delegates in Con- 
gress. North Carohna, elated over her victory at Moore's Creek 
Bridge, empowered her delegates directly to vote for Colonies 
independence. This was on the 12th of April, 1776. independence 
In the same month, Massachusetts and Rhode Island took steps 
to give their delegates similar instructions. Virginia began to 
declare her choice in the elections to a special convention in April. 
In May the convention met at Williamsburg and instructed its 
delegates to declare for independence. 

76. Continental Congress Declares for Independence, July 4, 
1776. — As a direct consequence of the action of the Virginia Con- 
vention, Richard Henry Lee presented in the Continental Congress 
the formal motion: ''That these United Colonies are, and of a 
right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are 
absolved from all allegiance to the British crown; and that all 
political connection between them and the State of Great Britain 
is and ought to be totally dissolved." John Adams seconded the 
motion, which was approved by the vote of the delegates from all 
the colonies save New York. The formal Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was accordingly drawn up by Thomas Jefferson and 
adopted by Congress on July 4.^ 

Copies of the Declaration were sent to the legislatures of the 
thirteen States, which, as we have seen, had already taken steps 
to form independent governments. The Assembly The colonies 
of New York was the first to ratify the document on themselves 

'^ Confeder- 

July 9. Other assemblies followed in giving their sane- ated states 
tion, and the work of the Congress was thus approved by the 

States. 

' The Declaration was not actually signed by the delegates until August 2, 
on which date nearly all of the signatures were affixed. Verbal changes in 
Jefferson's draft were made by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin; Congress 
also voted to omit portions of the original, such as Jefferson's denunciation 
of royal protection afforded the slave trade, together with all definite references 
to Parliament, whose official existence and authority were consistently ignored 
by the colonies. 



120 



SECOND PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION 



77. Howe's Campaign in the Middle States, 1776. — The 

British government was not yet wilhng to acknowledge colonial 
independence, and the theatre of conflict was transferred to the 
middle States, where it was thought that British armies would 
have a greater measure of success than they had met with in New 
England and the South. In New York there were a number of 
Tories who were becom- 
ing active in opposition 
to the patriot party. 
Many of these loyalists 
owned large tracts of 
land and other property. 
They were too comforta- 
bly situated to desire any 




THE NEW JERSEY CAMPAIGN 



change or to risk the chances 
of war. In Pennsylvania 
also there was great oppo- 
sition to the war, due, in 
part, to the Quaker senti- 
ment in that colony. The 
British turned their atten- 
tion to the important har- 
bor and city of New York, which therefore became the next prize 
to be contended for by the opposing forces. 

Washington sent a large part of his effective fighting strength, 
under Generals Putnam and Sullivan, to hold Brooklyn Heights 
Battle of on Long Island. Against these Howe dispatched a 
Aug"27, 1776 force of 20,000 men, who turned the American flank, and 
''the battle w^as won before it was begun." Many of the Americans 
were killed and hundreds captured, but the bravery and deter- 



HOWE'S CAMPAIGN IN MIDDLE STATES 121 

mined resistance of some 400 Maryland troops checked the British 
advance. This, together with a heavy storm and the British slow- 
ness of movement, saved this portion of the Continental army, 
and enabled Washington to rescue the remnant of his force two 
days later. Washington was now compelled to abandon New 
York City, not, however, without disputing the advance of the 
enemy in several minor engagements. 

The main body of the American army continued to retreat 
from the neighborhood of New York westward and southward 
through New Jersey, leaving a division under General washing- 
Charles Lee on the east side of the Hudson. Through '^'"'^ '''''^^' 
New Jersey, Washington was energetically pursued by Cornwallis 
and Howe. It was late in the fall, and although the American 
troops were suffering severely from cold and the lack of adequate 
clothing, Washington had nevertheless been desirous of turning 
upon the British and giving battle ; but his order to General Lee to 
bring up the rest of the army was wilfully disobeyed by the latter 
so that his plans of attack were thereby frustrated."^ Conse- 
quently, Washington moved his army across the Delaware into 
Pennsylvania. Philadelphia was now threatened, but the British 
did not cross into Pennsylvania during the winter because it 
seemed to them that the American army was demoralized and 
that the people of New Jersey were not likely to render assistance 
to the ''rebel" forces. For this reason the British went into 
winter quarters, confidently expecting to have no further trouble 
and to capture Philadelphia in the spring. 

Washington saw that the patriot cause was at a low ebb. He 
was fully aware that something must be done to raise the spirits 
of his men, now reduced to a little band of less than 5000 effective 

'* General Charles Lee was an officer in the British army prior to the 
Revolution and had a high reputation as a skilled tactician. He was, however, 
a vain and self-seeking man, w^ho had hoped to become commander-in-chief 
of the American army in place of Washington. The student should not confuse 
this General Lee with the other Lees from Virginia, as he was not related to 
that distinguished family. 



122 SECOND PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION 

troops, including the division of General Charles Lee, which had 
joined him, although Lee himself had been captured by the British. 
Washing- Haviug first secured information as to the location of 
cS-nwIms— the different posts of the enemy, Washington deter- 
T ?e n't^o n ! mined to attack a body of Hessians encamped at Tren- 
Deo. 25,1776 ^^^^ ^^^ Jcrscy. After seizing all the boats along the 
Delaware River, he planned to send his little army across in three 
parts ; but the only part which succeeded in crossing was the one 
which he led in person. He had selected Christmas eve as the 
time most suitable for the surprise of the enemy. During a snow 
storm and amid masses of floating ice he led his own detachment 
across the Delaware; and although the attack was begun much 
later than intended, the Hessians were taken largely by surprise, 
their retreat was skilfully cut off, and practically their entire 
force was either killed or captured. The American loss was but 
two men killed and two frozen to death on the march. 

Washington took his prisoners safely over the Delaware and 
returned to New Jersey, but was now in great danger of being 
Battle of himself surrounded and captured by superior numbers 

Prin octon 

Jan. 3, 1777 miclcr Comwallis, who expressed the opinion that ''he 
had at last run down the old fox." Washington, however, by 
leaving his camp-fires burning, deceived his antagonist and sUpped 
away in the night toward Princeton. Here he routed a body of 
2000 British troops and took more prisoners. 

The battle of Princeton took place January 3, 1777, so that 
within ten days Washington had routed two detachments of the 
enemy, captured valuable munitions of war, and had revived the 
Aid from hopes and spirits of his countrymen. These victories are 
France q£ particular importance in that it convinced Europe 

that the untrained American army had at its head one of the 
great captains of the age.^ In consequence, the negotiations of 

^ When Frederick the Great of Prussia learned of this campaign, he pro- 
nounced it " the most brilhant of any recorded in the annals of military achieve- 
ment." Afterwards, Von Moltke said of it that: "No finer movement was 
ever executed." 



BURGOYNE'S CAMPAIGN IN NORTHERN NEW YORK 123 



Benjamin Franklin, Arthur Lee, and Silas Deane at Paris were 
brought to a successful consummation; and France promised a 
fund of about $400,000 yearly, with munitions of war. These, 
however, were promised secretly, as France had not declared war 
against Great Britain. A number of French officers proffered 
their services to the patriot cause, the 
most famous of whom was the Marquis de 
Lafayette. Furthermore, the success of 
the Trenton and Princeton campaign 
aroused the people of New Jersey to 
organize their militia and to attack the 
outposts of the enemy. Washington him- 
self prudently avoided a general engage- 
ment, and the British felt compelled to 
withdraw from New Jersey to New York 
by the end of June. 

78. Burgoyne's Campaign in Northern 
New York, 1777. — Part of the general 
British plan of campaign was to separate 
the States by capturing the water course 
formed by the Hudson River and Lake 
Champlaih. In consequence of this gen- 
eral plan, Burgoyne was ordered to begin 
a movement from Canada with a British- 
Hessian army and Indian allies, to the 
number of 10,000 men. Burgoyne was 
also to be joined by a British force work- 
ing eastward from Lake Ontario. 

Opposing Burgoyne in the north was a small force of Conti- 
nental troops under General Philip Schuyler. Burgoyne's route 
lay through swamps and thick woods 5"and, as Schuyler schuyier's 
was unable to cope with the invading force, he ob- ^^^^^^^^' 
structed its movements by destroying bridges and felling trees 
across its path. On this account the British made slow progress, 
while Schuyler retreated to Albany. 




BURGOYNE 8 ROUTE 



124 SECOND PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION 

In July Burgoyne's supplies began to fail; and in August he 
sent Colonel Baum into Vermont with a force of 1000 Hessians 
British de- to seize the American stores gathered at Bennington. 

feats in ver- 

m o n t and Baum was surrounded and captured by a body of Ver- 
York mont farmers commanded by General Stark. At the 

same time, Burgoyne learned of the rout in western New York 
of the British force that was to have come to his aid from that 
quarter, a rout that was brought about by the gallant fighting of 
Colonel Herkimer, and by the strategy of Benedict Arnold. 

Burgoyne was now in desperate straits, and the militia in 
Vermont under General Lincoln were making it increasingly diffi- 
cult for him to get supplies from Canada. He had heard no news 
of General Howe, who was expected to move up the Hudson from 
New York. Consequently, from the middle of September, he had 
Battles of ^o alternative left him but to fight his way through 
Height^sept. without help to the mouth of the Hudson. On Septem- 
s^ar?t^ogI,' ber 19 he attacked the Americans at Bemis Heights. 
Oct. 17, 1777 fpj^-g attack was well planned and boldly executed, and, 
because of the incompetency of General Gates, who had superseded 
the more energetic Schuyler, came very near being successful. 
Indeed, the American army would doubtless have been badly 
defeated, but for the energetic action of Benedict Arnold and 
Daniel Morgan. As it was, the result was a drawn battle, although 
the British lost 600 men, while the Americans lost about half that 
number. Burgoyne, however, could neither retreat nor remain 
on the defensive. Consequently, he again attacked the American 
army on October 7 at about the same place. His attack, however, 
was repulsed, and Burgoyne retired to Saratoga, followed by the 
Americans. Here, on October 17, he was forced to surrender what 
was left of his army, about 6000 men, together with all his mili- 
tary stores. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 125 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Show how the Colonial Congress of 1776 became the Congress of the 
Confederated States. 

2. A detailed account of the battle of Long Island should prove interesting. 
There is no doubt that Washington made a serious blunder in attempting, 
with inadequate fortifications and with no naval force, to defend New York. 
His army might have been annihilated but for the incompetence of Howe 
and Clinton. On the other hand, the British improved upon their frontal 
assault at Bunker Hill, and they had been made especially cautious by their 
disastrous repulse at Fort Moultrie. The lesson we may learn from this just 
criticism of Washington is this: That Washington profited by his mistakes, 
and not only learned not to repeat them but constantly to improve in both 
defensive and offensive strategy. General Prescott, at Breed's Hill, had also 
placed himself in a position to be surrounded. 

3. Of the remainder of the campaigns contained in this chapter, those of 
W^ashington in New Jersey and of Burgoyne in New York should prove of 
especial interest for detailed reading. 

4. An incident of the campaign immediately subsequent to the Battle 
of Long Island was the capture by the British of Nathan Hale, who, disguised 
as a schoolmaster, had been engaged in gaining information in the British 
camp. He was hanged as a spy; but just before his execution, he exclaimed: 
"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." Hale was 
born in Connecticut and was graduated at Yale. 



CHAPTER XII 

Third Period of the Revolution — From Saratoga to 
King's Mountain 

79. Results of Burgoyne's Surrender. — The capture of Bur- 
goyne caused great rejoicing throughout the country and further 

contributed to the success of the American cause by 
France, TzTs bringing about a treaty with France which was signed 

in the following winter; but it also gave rise to a most 
unfortunate scandal in Congress and the American army. This 
scandal or conspiracy has been known in history as the ''Conway 
Conway Ca- Cabal/' after the name of one of its leaders. In the 
^""^ main, it was an effort to belittle the services of Wash- 

ington and to supersede him in favor of General Horatio Gates, 
called by his friends the ''hero of Saratoga;" although the credit 
for the success of the New York campaign really belonged to 
Schuyler, Arnold, and Morgan. The conspiracy had gained great 
headway before its real nature was detected. It ended, however, 
in complete failure; and, throughout its disclosures, Washington, 
with characteristic dignity and moral courage, bore slanders and 
misrepresentations without complaint, because a public defense 
of his course would necessarily have given valuable information 
to the enemy. 

80. Howe's Second Campaign in the Middle States, 1777.— 
According to the original plan of the British, Howe was to march 
north from New York City to assist Burgoyne when the latter 
Washing- entered New York State from Canada. Many j^ears 
egy later it was learned that the cause of Howe's failure to 
cooperate directly with Burgoyne was due to the carelessness of a 
British official in London, who misplaced the order to that effect. 
General Howe, therefore, having had no definite instructions, 
chose to follow a plan of his own by which he hoped to capture 

126 



HOWE'S SECOND CAMPAIGN 127 

Philadelphia first and join Burgoyne later. With his army of 
17,000 men, more than double Washington's effective force, 
Howe expected to accomplish this within a very short while. 
In the previous campaign in New Jersey, the British commander 
had been so often foiled by the maneuvers of Washington that the 
former finally decided upon a wholly new plan of operation. 
Accordingly, he proceeded by sea to the head of Chesapeake Bay, 
where he landed his troops and prepared for an imme- Battle of 

Brandywine 

diate march on the continental capital. Washington Sept. li, 1777 
moved to meet him at Brandywine creek in southern Pennsylvania; 
but a number of mistakes were made by his officers in carrying 




WASHINGTON AND LAFAYETTE AT VALLEY FORGE 

out his plans, so that the Americans were outflanked as at Long 
Island and forced to retreat, with a loss of about 1000 men. Shortly 
afterwards, September 26, 1777, Howe took possession of Philadel- 
phia, forcing Congress to flee to York. 

Washington, however, was not discouraged, and planned an 
attack that was in its strategy as daring as his Trenton-Princeton 
campaign of the year before. It began in an equally ?,^**'^^,^^ 
successful manner, but a heavy fog caused confusion Oct. 4, 1777 
and disastrous collisions in the American ranks. The result was 
that the Americans were forced to retire after heavy losses. 



128 THIRD PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION 

This conflict was knoTvn as the battle of Germantown, October 
4, 1777, after which mihtary operations were suspended for the 
remainder of the year. 

81. Winter Quarters at Valley Forge, 1777-1778.— Howe went 
into winter quarters at Philadelphia, and Washington selected a 
position at Valley Forge on the Schu3^1kill River, about twenty 
miles away. The weather was extremely severe, and the army 
fared badly. Sufficient barracks and blankets had not been pro- 
vided for the troops, many of whom had sometimes to sit up all 
night by fires in order to keep from freezing. At times about a 
fourth of Washington's force were incapacitated for duty from 
lack of shoes and clothing. In addition to these privations, the 
pay of the soldiers in ''Continental" currency, or the currency 
issued by Congress, was worth little or nothing. 

82. British Offers of Compromise, 1 778. — During the winter of 
1777-1778, however, the alliance with France already referred to 
at the beginning of this chapter was finally effected by the Amer- 
ican commissioners. When this became known in England, 
Parliament passed acts repealing the duty on tea. It further re- 
pealed the Massachusetts Government Act, and declared that it 
would not exercise its right to levy taxes on the American colonies. 
But these concessions had come too late. The people in England 
had called for Pitt to come to the aid of the government and to 
make overtures for peace ; but Pitt was stricken with a fatal illness, 
and Lord North's commissioners, who came to America in June, 
were sent back to say that the former colonies would accept noth- 
ing less than the acknowledgment of their complete independence. 

83. Clinton's Campaign in the Middle States, 1778. — Early in 
the following summer, the British authorities decided to concentrate 
their forces at New York. In consequence of this change of plan, Sir 
Henry Clinton, now in command, marched out of Philadelphia on 
Battle of the 18th of June, with Washington following imme- 

Monmouth, i • i i mi 

June 28,1778 diatcly upon his heels. The American army overtook 
Clinton on the 27th at Monmouth Court House, New Jersey, and 
Washington prepared for an immediate attack. General Charles 



EXPEDITION OF GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 129 

Lee, who had been exchanged, was again in command of an 
American force. Washington ordered him to make an attack 
upon the enemy on the morning of the 28th, but the former 
Enghsh officer did not obey promptly, and disarranged Washing- 
ton's plans by giving confusing orders. Fortunately, the alert 
Lafayette reported the state of affairs to Washington, who arrived 
on the scene in time to stop a retreat. After delivering a stinging 
rebuke to the disobedient officer, he restored the line of battle 
and advanced against the British. Even after this unfortunate 
beginning, Washington fought a drawn battle, and the British 
commander retired that night from the field to take up his march 
to New York. General Charles Lee was court-martialed, and 
afterwards dismissed from the army. 

Washington now followed Clinton to New York, and, with 
the aid of a French fleet under Count d'Estaing, he hoped to 
capture the British forces there. When d'Estaing Washington 
arrived, however, he found that his largest vessels g'afj *New 
could not cross the bar of the harbor, and the project ^°^^ 
was given up, Washington remaining on the Hudson above New 
York to maintain communications with New England. ^ 

84. Indian and Tory Raids in New York and Pennsylvania, 
1778. — In the summer of 1778, exiled Tories and Indian allies 
made numerous raids on the border settlements of New York and 
Pennsylvania, the most noted of these being in the Wyoming 
Valley in Pennsjdvania and in Cherry Valley, New York. General 
Sullivan, with 5000 men, w^as sent by Washington in the following 
year to revenge their atrocities. Sullivan badly defeated the 
enemy near Elmira, New York, and destroyed the villages and 
cornfields of the Indians over an extended stretch of country. 

85. The Expedition of George Rogers Clark, 1778-1779.— The 
winter of 1778-1779, however, witnessed a daring and wonderful 
achievement in the west. We have seen from the preceding nar- 

^ The French fleet joined with an American force in an attack on the British 
at Newport. The undertaking, however, failed. 



130 



THIRD PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION 



rative that the war had not yet greatly affected the south, although 
volunteers from the southern colonies had been among the earliest 
to march to the assistance of their compatriots in the north. The 
hardy backwoodsmen of Virginia and North Carolina had already 
begun to occupy the fertile lands of Kentucky and Tennessee. 
Virginia In 1778 it occurred to one of these pioneer leaders, 

c ommissions 

Clark to se- Gcorge Rogcrs Clark, to cross the Ohio and wrest from 
northwest Great Britain the great northwestern territory between 
that river and the Great Lakes. Clark laid his plans before 
Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia, and Thomas Jefferson, both 
of whom heartily approved of it. Shortly 
thereafter, Clark was commissioned by the 
State of Virginia to undertake the conquest. 
In the first stage of his campaign, Clark 
led a few score men from Wheeling down the 
Ohio and across southern Illinois to the Mis- 
sissippi River. Not far from the present site 
of St. Louis, on the Illinois side of the Missis- 
sippi, was the important outpost of Kaskaskia. 
Clark, with his small band of Kentucky fron- 
tiersmen, surprised this settlement and took 
possession of it on the night of July 4, 1778. 
Here he awaited reinforcements before pro- 
ceeding farther into the Illinois territory. The 
expected reinforcements, however, had been 
sent against hostile Indians at the future 
battlefield of Chickamauga and Clark was, for the present, unable 
to proceed farther into the northwestern territory. 

In the winter of 1779 Clark heard that the British Governor 
Hamilton was gathering a formidable force of British and Indians 
Clark's win- ^t Viuccnnes ^o drive him out of the Illinois country 
vfn'?en''neB! carly in the spring, so that he determined to advance 
^^^^ at once and to strike the first blow. He assembled, 

therefore, a force of 170 men, some of whom were French volun- 
teers from Kaskaskia, and began a wonderful march across a 




GEORC.L IvOe.l K-^ CLARK 

Born Albermarle Co., 
Va., November 19, 1752. 
Served in Indian wars; 
moved to Kentucky, 1775, 
and Was prominent in 
organization of territory; 
led expedition that wrested 
the northwest from Brit- 
ish in 1778-1779. Died 
Kentucky, 1818. 



MINOR MOVEMENTS OF SUMMER OF 1779. 131 

trackless country in the dead of winter. A great part of the route 
led through the ''drowned lands" of the Wabash, and the men 
were frequently obliged to wade up to their necks in water, hold- 
ing their guns above the flood. Frequently they were without 
food, except such as they were able to capture or secure along the 
route. 

Clark and his men arrived before Vincennes on the 23rd of 
February, 1779. They outnumbered Hamilton's force, but the 
latter's war parties and raiders might return at any Capture of 

\incennes, 

moment; so Clark attacked the fort the following day Feb. 24, 1779 
so vigorously that Hamilton surrendered. The British commander 
and a number of the prisoners were sent to Jefferson, now governor 
in the place of Patrick Henry, and the Northwestern Territory 
was organized as the County of Illinois, in the State of Virginia. 
George Rogers Clark at that time was but twenty-six years of 
age; his double campaign gave Virginia a strong claim to the 
northwest, and enabled her later to give this territory to the 
United States as a common possession. - 

86. Minor Movements of the Summer of 1779. — The summer 
of the year 1779 witnessed two brilliant minor movements of 
American forces. The first of these was the capture of stony Point, 
Stony Point on the Hudson by General Anthony J^^y'is. 1779 
Wayne. This was accomplished in a night attack, by the use 
of the bayonet only, and without firing a shot. The entire 
British force surrendered and military stores of impor- pauiusHook. 
tance were captured. One month later, Major Henry ^'^^- ^^' ^^'^^ 
Lee captured in an equally daring manner the British fortifica- 
tions at Paulus Hook, opposite New York, on the present site of 

2 The Virginia executive council ordered that Hamilton should be put in 
irons in retaliation for instigating Indian atrocities along the border. George 
Rogers Clark was not fittingly repaid for his great services either by Virginia 
or by the United States. He died in poverty and obscurity, part of which, 
however, was due to his own failure, as he became addicted to intemperance. 
His life may be taken as an inspiration to achievement, and his end as a warn- 
ing against self-indulgence. 



132 THIRD PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION 

Jersey City. The capture of Stony Point had taken place on 
July 15, 1779. Paulus Hook fell into the hands of the Americans 
on August 19. 

87. John Paul Jones Wins Great Naval Combat, September 

23, 1779. — These two successive land victories were followed on 
September 23 by the greatest naval victory of the war. This was 
achieved by Captain John Paul Jones, a Scotch- American com- 
^^^^^^ mander who had succeeded in fitting out ships 

^^^^^^^^^ in the ports of France. His flagship was an old 
m^^^t^K^^ French merchant vessel refitted for war pur- 
^l^pi^L^^H^ poses and re-named the BonJiomme Richard. 
P^P *"""'n Cruising to the west of Britain, he fell in with 

^» J I the convoy of a British merchant fleet. He 

chose for his antagonist the Serapis, the larger 
frigate in command of Captain Richard Pear- 
son. The battle that took place was one of 
the most desperate engagements recorded in 
BorT''scot!Ind,Tuiy 6, ^Istory. For a large part of the time the ships 
Luiid'Trf TirBnS", ""i??!- ^^^^® lashcd together and both were burning. 
Amrrican^nli'iy or^evo^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ advantage and then the 
Rusi^na^JI^'Dild Paris'; ^^^^^ during the long hours of conflict; but at 
^''^2- last some hand-grenades, thrown from the rig- 

ging of the Boiihomme Richard upon the decks of the Serapis, turned 
the tide of the battle against the British, who were forced to surren- 
der. The Bonho7mne Richard sank shortly after the engagement, 
and Jones sailed away on the Serapis. Further daring operations 
by Jones, Barry, Whipple, and a number of American privateers- 
men began greatly to cripple the commerce of Great Britain. 

88. British Campaign in the South from 1779 to Battle of 
of Camden, 1780.— The British again turned their attention to 
and " French ^^^ subjugatiou of the far south, where they had secured 
repulsed at a foothold at Savauuah, Georgia. In the fall of 1779, a 

Savannah, ' ^ ' 

Oct. 9, 1779 combined attack was made upon that city by a French 
fleet under d'Estaing and an American force under General 
Lincoln. To surprise the enemy a night assault was planned, but 
the British were warned of it, and it was repulsed with disastrous 



BRITISH CAIVIPAIGN IN THE SOUTH. 



133 



results to the besiegers. One thousand of the allied forces were 
killed, while the British less was small. Sergeant Jasper, the hero 
of Fort Moultrie, and Count Pulaski, a distinguished Pole who 
had entered the American service, were among the killed. 




WAR MAP OF THE SOUTH DURIXG THE REVOLUTION 

In December, Sir Henry Clinton sailed from New York to 
invest Charleston. Opposing his force of 11,000 men was General 
Lincoln, with a force of about 7000 Americans, who be- Charleston 
came entrapped in the city by troops on the one side and May 12, i780 
ships on the other. The American forces held out for nearly two 



134 THIRD PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION 

months, but on May 12, 1780, after a destructive bombardment, 
they were compelled to capitulate. The city of Charleston was 
South Caro- piUagcd by Hessians and British alike, and South Caro- 
dered lina Suffered under a brutal warfare more than any 

other State. Clinton and Cornwallis outlawed all people who 
would not take an ironbound oath actively to support the British 
government. Property was destroyed or confiscated, and the 
people were cruelly treated. 

The British forces were overwhelmingly large and South Caro- 
Rise of the lina was for a time left to work out her own salva- 
leaders tiou. This shc began to do with wonderful spirit and 

determination through the active operations of small bands of 
patriots led by men who later became famous 
in the romance of partisan warfare, ^'men 
who worked one day and fought the next." 
Among those who thus distinguished them- 
selves in numerous attacks upon the enemy 
were Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, and 
Andrew Pickens, whose successful activities 
soon attracted volunteers from neighboring 
colonies. In Georgia patriots rallied under 
the standard of Elijah Clarke.^ 
GENERAL NATHANAEL Washlngton was desirous of sending Gen- 

Bom Rhode Island, Aug. ^ral Nathanacl Greene to take charge of the 
Ln\la1^" arnl7''throu^hout American forces in the south, but Congress 
^o"mSov-^en^^^^^^ Insistcd upon Sending General Gates instead. 

Tand. IScidie'Ld'southeS Barou dc Kalb and 2000 men were dispatched 
states. Died Georgia, 1786. j^.^^ Washington's depleted forces to aid in 

the campaign. The immediate result was a blundering failure on 
Battle of the part of Gates, who met the enemy at Camden, 
Aug. 16, 1780 South Carolina, and was disastrously defeated. Gates 

^ Opposed to these American leaders were the dashing but cruel Tarleton, 
and Major Ferguson, leader of the Tories or loyalists. Francis Marion soon 
became known as the "Swamp Fox," and Sumter as the "Game Cock," on 
account of their different fighting qualities, names that were applied to them 
by the British officers. 




BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN THE SOUTH. 



135 



not stopping his four days' flight until he reached a safe point 180 
miles away. Baron de Kalb was killed in the battle.'^ 

After this disastrous campaign, Congress at last ga\'e up 
Gates, and allowed Washington to put Greene in his place; but 
almost irreparable damage had been done to the Amer- Gates auper- 

11 /• sededby 

ican cause. The war had now dragged along for a Greene 
period of five years. The end seemed not in sight and the outlook 
at no period was more gloomy than at this time. The patriot 
soldiers were unable to support themselves on currency that was 




TREASON OF BENEDICT ARNOLD 



worth nothing, desertions Avere increasingly frequent, and re- 
cruits were hard to obtain. In addition to this, the country was 
startled and horrified over the treacherous conduct of one of its 
bravest leaders. 



* It is worth noting, however, that both Generals Gates and Lee, as soldiers 
of experience in the British service, were originally appointed through the 
representations of Washington. It was at this time that the disgraced 
but clever Charles Lee is reported to have said that "General Gates had 
better beware lest the laurels of Saratoga be changed into the willows of 
Carolina." 



136 THIRD PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION 

89. Treason of Benedict Arnold. — Benedict Arnold, after his 
notable services in Vermont, New York, and Canada, had been 
treated with injustice and neglect by Congress. Upon being 
reprimanded for some minor irregularities of conduct, he de- 
termined to sell his services to the enemy. Consequently, after 
securing the command at West Point on the Hudson, he engaged 
in correspondence with the British to deliver that stronghold to 
them. In September, 1780, he had arranged the last details of 
his plans with Major Andre, an officer on Clinton's staff. Andre, 
however, was caught by Continental pickets on the east side of 
the Hudson on his way back from the American lines. The 
treasonable correspondence was found in his possession, and 
Arnold hastened openly to join the British. The blow was thus 
deprived of most of its force and West Point was saved. The un- 
fortunate Major Andre, however, was, in accordance with military 
regulations, executed as a spy. 

But this period of gloom was the darkness that preceded the 
da^vn of the day of final success. The first light was to come 
from the frontier settlements of Virginia and the Carolinas. 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Among the subjects outlined in this chapter, interesting ones for special 
reading are: The Battle of Monmouth, Geoi'ge Rogers Clark in the northwest, 
the career of John Paul Jones, and the operations of American privateers. 

2. Comparison may be made between the gloomy winter of Valley Forge 
and the period of depression following British success at Camden. 

3. The similarity of sound and spelling between names frequently leads 
into errors which too often confuse students. For instance, the names of the 
British general Gage and the American commander Gates become uncon- 
sciously confused. So also such names as Henry Lee, the noted cavalry leader 
of the Revolution, and Richard Henry Lee, his cousin and the delegate from 
Virginia, w^ho introduced the motion in the Continental Congress that led to 
the framing of the Declaration of Independence. 



CHAPTER XIII 

Fourth Period of the Revolution — From King's Mountain 

TO YORKTOWN AND THE TrEATY OF PeACE 

90. Campaigns in the Carolinas, 1780-1781. — After their easily 
won victory at Camden, the British beUeved that they could 
readily subjugate the whole of the South. Consequently, Major 
Ferg:uson was sent to the western part of South Carolina, not only 




to arouse the Tories, but to inflict a blow upon the frontiersmen 
beyond the mountains, who were beginning to take a more active 
part in the patriot cause. Ferguson received orders to intimidate 
the people, if necessary, by lajdng waste the country and hanging 
the ''rebel" leaders, but orders such as these served further to 
arouse the fighting spirit of the riflemen of the western frontier. 

137 



138 



FOURTH PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION 



King's 
Mountain, 
Oct. 7, 1780 



From every quarter they gathered together at the call of their 
Battle of leaders, Campbell, Sevier, Shelby, McDowell, Wil- 
liams, and Cleveland. On October 7, 1780, they fomid 
Ferguson, who had heard of their coming and had for- 
tified himself on a spur of a rocky ridge called King's Mountain. 
Here the American volunteers attacked him 
fiercely, and although repeatedly repulsed by 
bayonet charges, they retreated down the hill, 
only to return to the assault as often as they 
were driven back. Their determination was 
deadly and resistless, and Ferguson's force of 
1 100 men was completely wiped out. This was 
one of the most brilliant successes of the Revo- 
lution. The British and Tories slightly out- 
numbered the Americans, the latter losing but 
28 men, including Colonel Williams. Ferguson 
and several hundred of the enemy were killed 
or wounded, while the rest were captured. 

King's Mountain marked the beginning 
of the end of the revolutionary conflict. 
For, coupled with this, came the cheering news 
that John Laurens, sent as a special commis- 
sioner to France, had obtained French loan, 
another loan from the French king. ^^^0-1781 
This was timely aid, without which the United 
States could scarcely have brought the war to its successful con- 
clusion some months later. ^ 




From A. H. Wharton's " Heir- 
looms in Miniature." 

JOHN LAURENS 

Born Charleston, S. C, 
1755. Served in Continen- 
tal army; aide and, with 
Alexander Hamilton, Sec- 
retary to Washington; sent 
on special mission to 
France, was successful in 
securing additional French 
loan at critical period of 
Revolution; killed by Brit- 
ish raiders in South Caro- 
lina, Aug. 1782, being last 
American of note to be 
killed in War for Indepen- 
dence. 



1 Washington wrote to Laurens after his departure for France and prior 
to the battle of King's Mountain: ''I give it decisively as my opinion that 
without a foreign loan our present force cannot be kept together; ... we 
are at the end of our tether, and that now or never our deliverance must come." 
Laurens was a personal friend of George Washington and closely associated 
with him in his miHtary operations from Brandy wine to Yorktowai. Of 
Laurens, Washington said that "his only fault was an intrepidity bordering 
upon rashness." He was twenty-eight years old when sent on this important 
diplomatic service to France, and secured additional French aid w^hen all 



CAMPAIGNS IN THE CAROLINAS. 139 

The plans of Cornwallis had been frustrated by the defeat 
of Ferguson. Instead of Gates, there were now to oppose him 
such able commanders as Nathanael Greene and Daniel Reorganiza- 
Morgan, besides Colonel William Washington, ''Light A^efid^n 
Horse Harry" Lee, and the partisan leaders. These ^^™^ 
could now unite their forces against the British. 

General Morgan opened the campaign on the 17th of January, 

1781, by defeating a larger force of British under Tarleton at Cow- 
pens, South Carolina. Although the Americans fought Battle of 

^' Cowpens, 

well, they owed their victory in a large measure to the un- Jan. i7, i78i 
usual strategy of their commander, who feigned flight with his for- 
ward line, and caught the charging British by a prearranged flank- 
ing attack. From the standpoint of military tactics, it was the 
most remarkable engagement of the Revolution. The British loss 
was 270 killed and wounded and 600 prisoners out of a total force 
of 1150 men. The Americans lost but 20 of the 940 men engaged. 
Morgan chased Tarleton and the remainder of his force for many 
miles and, after successfully evading Cornwallis, he united his 
forces with those of General Greene, who retired into Virginia.^ 
On March 15 General Greene returned to North Carolina and 
gave battle to Cornwallis at Guilford Court House. The result 
was technically a victory for the British, as Greene Battle of 
ordered a retreat; but the British loss was proportion- court House 
ately greater, and Cornwallis's army was so badly ^^a'"- 1^- i^'^i 
crippled that he felt obliged to withdraw to Wilmington to be 

other American commissioners had failed. On his return to America he was 
seized with a fever, but rose from a sick bed to repel a British attack near his 
home in South Carolina. He received a mortal wound and died August 27, 

1782. Congress had given him a vote of thanks for his successful negotiations 
with France. 

2 Before the battle, Morgan let his men know that retreat was cut off by 
a river in his rear. He did this because, he said, " When men are forced to fight, 
they will sell themselves dearly." He then prepared his men for the pretended 
panic of his forward lines. This was the only battle in which this remarkable 
leader was-in entire command. Illness compelled him to retire, but Congress 
began to realize his worth, and voted him a gold medal after this battle. 



140 FOURTH PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION 

within reach of the British fleet. There seemed to be but one 
course left open to him now, and this was to advance northward 
into Virginia. 

In the meantime, partisan bands were waging constant war- 
fare and were capturing or driving in the outlying British garrisons. 
British hard Greene, therefore, permitted Cornwallis to advance 
pressed ^^^^ Virginia without opposition, and determined to 

lead his own army to the relief of the Carolinas. Consequently, 
at Hobkirk's Hill, he attacked a large force of the enemy under 
Colonel Rawdon, but was defeated. Rawdon, however, could no 
longer hold his headquarters at Camden, for ''Light Horse Harry" 
Lee, by capturing a fort on the road to Charleston, had cut off 
his supphes. 

During the summer, Marion and Sumter and other leaders 
had compelled the British to abandon the uplands of the whole 
Battle of Eu- of South Carolina and Georgia. On September 8 

taw k^pnngs, 

Sept. 8, 1781 Greene encountered the British under Colonel Stuart at 
Eutaw Springs in South Carolina. At first the Americans were 
successful and drove the British from the field, but while the 
former were plundering the camp of the enemy, they were sud- 
denly surprised and forced to retire. 

91. Closing British Campaign in Virginia, 1781. — We now 
turn to Virginia for the closing scenes of the war. Early in 1781 
Arnold and Benedict Arnold, appointed an officer in the British 
i n^va^'d e^vir- army, had led an invading force into that State, the 
^^"^^ defense of which was weakened by the absence of her 

soldiers fighting in the middle States under Washington, and in 
the south under Lincoln, Greene and other commanders. Rich- 
mond was burned and much of the region along the James was 
plundered by the British. But Generals Lafayette, Wayne, and 
Steuben arrived upon the scene to aid in repelling the invaders. 
Arnold was sent back to New York by Cornwallis, but the latter 
countenanced or encouraged a similar campaign of plunder. 
Finally, as the American troops grew in numbers, he decided to 
concentrate his army at Yorktown, on the York River, so as to 



CLOSING BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN VIRGINIA. 



141 



bring his forces into communication by sea with those of Sir 
Henry Clinton at New York. 

The position taken by CornwalHs would have been safe had 
the British navy maintained control of the Atlantic coast, but it 
so happened that at this time a French fleet, much stronger than 
the British naval force in American waters, arrived in washing- 
Chesapeake Bay. The Americans had prepared for ton's strategy 
their coming, through arrangements made by Washington with 
the French Admiral, Count de Grasse, and Count Rochambeau, 
with a view to a combined at- 
tack on New York, but now 
Washington, with his usual 
military insight, saw a better 
opportunity for attacking, and 
possibly capturing, Cornwallis. 

To carry out this design he 
deceived Sir Henry Clinton by 
a movement which seemed to 
threaten New York; but when 
his plans were fully complete, 
he suddenly transferred 2000 
of his men, together with 4000 --«-^--^"«'« headquarters at yorktown 

French troops, from the Hudson to the James to join Lafayette 
above Yorktown. The movement was executed with great secrecy, 
celerity, and success, and the allied forces were in position to attack 
before Clinton could interfere. 

Siege operations were begun in the latter part of September, 
and the lines of the allies were drawn closer and closer around 
Yorktown and Cornwallis. Outer British redoubts siege of 
were captured by assault, British guns within the for- ^°'''^*°'^^ 
tification were silenced, and Yorktown was enfiladed with shot 
and shell.^ After an attempt to escape by night across the York 

^ Governor Thomas Nelson of Virginia gave orders that his own house 
in Yorktown, occupied as British headquarters, be fired upon, offering a 
reward to the gunner who first should hit it. 




142 



FOURTH PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION 



River, Cornwallis was compelled to surrender on October 19, 
1781. 

Washington offered the same terms to the British that they 
had granted General Benjamin Lincoln at the surrender of 
Capture of Charlcstou in May, 1780. Lincoln was selected by 

Cornwalhs, -^ ' "^ 

Oct. 19, 1781 Washington to receive the sword of Cornwallis. This 
was delivered to him by General O'Hara, but was returned to 

the latter in token of Washington's magnanimity. The land 

\"- 

y 



I to 





From old French engraving- 



SURRENDEK OF CORNWALLIS 



forces became the prisoners of the United States, while the naval 
forces were surrendered to the king of France. 

92. Peace Negotiations. — Even the obstinacy of King George 
could not postpone the defeat of the ministry that had prosecuted 
the war. Consequently, Lord Rockingham became minister, with 
a cabinet made up largely of men who had opposed the policy of 
colonial coercion. Peace negotiations were conducted at Paris, in 
which the United States were represented by Benjamin Franklin, 



TREATMENT OF THE TORIES 



143 



John Adams, Henry Laurens, and John Jay. A prcHminary treaty 
was arranged in Paris on November 30, 1782, which became final 
in the following year. By the terms of this treaty, Treaty of 
Great Britain acknowledged the independence of the ranged!" x'^ov' 
thirteen former colonies, the boundaries of which were ^*^' ^^'""^ 
fixed by the Mississippi River on the west, by Florida on the 
south, and by the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes on the 
north. ^ 

93. Treatment of the Tories. — There were other provisions 
of the treaty that were not carried out or definitely settled for 
some time, such as the protection 
of loyalists and the restoration of 
their property. The feeling against 
the loj^alists was intense, partly on 
account of the malicious and even 
barbarous activities of some of 
them during the war. This hatred 
extended to all those who had not 
actively sympathized with the 
patriot party. Thousands were 
driven into exile and their prop- 
erty confiscated, sometimes under 
very harsh circumstances. It was 
a sad mistake to force out of the 
colony these people, many of whom 
would have accepted the result of 
the struggle in good faith, and who 
would have made good citizens of 
the new republic. The American Congress promised to recommend 
to the States that loyalists be protected and their property re- 




Courtesy Historical Socit-ry of Pennsylvania 
WATCH OWNED BY GEORGE WASHINGTON 

(Ciroumferenoe 7.8 inches; diameter 2.5 
inches; weight nearly half a pound.) 



* Great Britain acknowledged the independence of the States as follows: 
"His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said United States; viz., New Hamp- 
shire, IVIassachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connec- 
ticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, IMaryland, Virginia, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia to be free, sovereign, and inde- 
pendent States;" . . . 



144 FOURTH PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION 

stored, but Congress could only recommend — it could not make 
the States obey.^ Neither could Congress compel the States to 
pay to British creditors debts contracted prior to the beginning 
of the war. The British, on the other hand, for several years 
kept possession of some of the forts in the northwest. 

94. Final Withdrawal of British Troops in the East, November 
25, 1783. — During the progress of negotiations, both British and 
American forces were kept under arms, although there was a 
cessation of hostilities. On April 19, eight years after Lexington 
and Concord, Washington communicated to the army the procla- 
mation of Congress that peace had been declared, and most of 
Washington the soldicrs returned to their homes. New York was 
miTon D^c: Anally given up by the British on the 25th of Novem- 
23, 1783 i^gj.^ 1783, and, on the 4th of December following, Wash- 

ington took leave of his officers and departed for his home at 
Mount Vernon. On the 23d of the same month he resigned his 
commission at Annapolis, where Congress was then in session, 
and expressed his desire to retire to private life.^ 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. The detailed narrative of the operations and daring exploits of the 
American partisan bands in the Carolinas and Georgia make very interesting 
reading. 

2. Some of the Continental notes so depreciated in value toward the end 
of the Revolution that it is said Samuel Adams paid $2,000 for a suit of clothes 
and a hat. From this depreciation originated the expression that we still use, 
" Not worth a continental." 

3. It is reported that after the battle of Cowpens, Tarleton taunted some 
North Carolina women about Colonel William A. Washington. "I should 

5 It has been estimated that the States lost 100,000 loyalists by exile 
during or after the war. Most of them went to Canada or to the Bahamas. 

" The inability of Congress to provide proper pay for the officers and men 
aroused much discontent among them. Almost a mutiny occurred, in which 
General Gates was a leader, but Washington's influence and calmness of con- 
duct prevented serious trouble. Later, a few score of discontented soldiers 
in Pennsylvania so frightened the feeble Continental Congress that it fled 
from Philadelphia to Princeton. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS. U5 

like to see this Colonel Washington," said Tarleton. ''If you had looked 
behind you at Cowpens, you would have had the pleasure," was the ready 
reply. 

4. "Light Horse Harry" Lee was considered the most daring cavalry 
officer of the Revolution. He was the father of an even more famous soldier, 
Robert E. Lee. He died and was buried at the home of General Greene in 
Georgia (where Eli Whitney later invented the cotton gin), but his remains 
were reinterred by the side of Robert E. Lee at Lexington, Virginia, in 1913. 

5. When Cornwallis invaded Virginia in 1781, Governor Thomas Jefferson 
and the Virginia legislature barely escaped capture by 250 of Colonel Tarle- 
ton's troopers. The latter made an unexpected dash on Charlottesville, where 
the legislature was sitting, and upon "Monticello," Jefferson's home. John 
Jouett, a citizen of Charlottesville, then in Louisa County, saw the troopers, 
suspected their errand, and riding desperately over forty miles, between 
midnight and morning, succeeded in warning Jefferson and the legislature 
in time for Jefferson and nearly all the legislators to escape. This ride 
occurred at a critical period of the Revolution and saved from capture, 
imprisonment, and possible death, the author of the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence. Patrick Henry was also one of those warned by Jouett, whose timely 
ride should be compared and remembered with those of Paul Revere and 
AMlliam Dawes. 

6. After the surrender of Cornwallis, Colonel Tench Tilghman of Mary- 
land carried the news from Yorktown to the Congress at Philadelphia in four 
days. The news spread behind him as he rode, scarcely stopping to cry: 
"Cornwallis is captured! a fresh horse for Congress!" At midnight on the 
23d of October, the watchmen of Philadelphia cried: "Twelve o'clock; all 
is well; Cornwallis is taken!" 



10 



CHAPTER XIV 

The End of the Confederation and the Formation of the 
Federal Union under the Constitution 

95. The States under the Confederation.^The form of gov- 
ernment ratified by the States during the Revolution was a 
government without any real authority. Because of this recog- 
nized lack of power, and because authority was lodged in the 
individual States, men of ability preferred to serve their respective 
States rather than take part in the merely advisory functions of 
the general Congress. There was no national executive 
authority such as the President and his cabinet of to- 
day; there was no federal supreme court; there was but one house 
in Congress; and the States, whether large or small, had one vote 
each. Congress could declare war or could make alliances with 
foreign nations, but it could not raise troops or carry out the 
terms of a treaty. It made requisitions upon the States for money, 
but it could not enforce payment. Almost every influence in the 
colonies seemed to make for the untrammeled independence of 
each commonwealth. After the Revolution each State wished to 
do as it pleased, and was unwilling to acknowledge an authority 
superior to it in any respect whatsoever. They did not wish a 
federal government to exercise any more control over them than 
they had previously been willing to accord to the British king. 

Notwithstanding this general devotion to the supremacy of 
the State, there were influences working for a stronger cen- 
Territoriai tral government. The possibility of a common inter- 
d i ne?e*n t Gst in wcstcm lands was one of them. Several States 
states j^^^ jg^-^ claim to parts of the northwestern territory 

secured by the expedition of George Rogers Clark. New York 
claimed a portion as having been ceded to her by agreement with 
the Iroquois Indians. Massachusetts and Connecticut claimed 
146 



THE STATES UNDER THE CONFEDERATION. 147 

a portion within their parallels of latitude as being a part of 
their sea-to-sea charters. Virginia also had a charter claim to the 
whole of it, in addition to a claim of conquest and actual pos- 
session. This last was the strongest State claim, although, 
on the other hand, it was argued that the United States should 
possess in common any territory acquired during the war for 
independence. In regard to other western lands, Virginia exercised 
undisputed control of the present State of Kentucky; while North 
Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia laid claim to western 
continuations by charter as far as the beginning of Spanish terri- 
tory west of the Mississippi. 

The western claims were regarded with considerable distrust 
by the States that had no such possibilities of expansion. These 
States feared that they would be swallowed up or dismembered 
by their stronger neighbors. Forthwith they denied the validity 
of all State claims and maintained that the western lands should 
belong to the general goverimient until they could be made into 
States. More stoutly than others, Maryland insisted that she 
would not ratify the articles of the Confederation until the claims 
had been yielded. Consequently, in 1780, New York f^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
gave up her shadowy Indian claim to a portion of the i^si 
northwest; and when Virginia, in 1781, had signified her willingness 
to give up her claims (subject to conditions made complete in 
1784), Maryland, the last of the States to agree, ratified the 
articles of the Confederation, and the first Union became, thereby, 
an accomplished fact. Thus it was due to the insistence of Mary- 
land on a guarantee of equal rights for the small States, and 
the generosity of Virginia in ceding her substantial claims to an 
empire, that the first form of federal government came into 
existence.^ 

^ Patrick Henry opposed this cession. As goverhor of Virginia, he had 
authorized Clark to conquer the Ilhnois territory with the troops and funds 
Virginia had provided; "For," he wrote, ''the honor and interest of the State 
are deeply concerned in this." Massachusetts formally jdelded her claims 
in 1784, but Connecticut insisted on a compromise in 1786, by which she 



148 THE END OF THE CONFEDERATION 

While still under the Confederation, Congress passed, in 1787, 
an ordinance for the organization and government of the north- 
ordi nance west territory. The measure was urged by a company 
ernment^^of Organized in the interest of a number of Continental 
w?s?°terri- officcrs and soldiers, who wished to develop the north- 
tory, 1787 ^^^^ undcr a definite form of government. Special 
provision was made for schools and education, religious freedom 
was guaranteed to all, and, in accordance with the original plan of 
government drawn up by Thomas Jefferson, himself a slaveholder, 
slavery was forbidden. The five great States of Ohio, Indiana, 
Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin were eventually formed out 
of this territory. In 1789, Marietta, Ohio, was founded as the 
first settlement established under the ordinance. 

Peace and independence did not, however, bring immediate 
prosperity. Great Britain was no longer able to levy imposts upon 
Foreign reia- articlcs imported into the former colonies; but she 
^^"''^ could and, for a time, did forbid United States trade 

with the British West Indies, except such as was carried on in 
British bottoms. She also placed imposts on American products 
exported to Great Britain in any but British vessels. Moreover, 
Spain, in spite of a three-sided alliance with France and the 
United States, refused to allow the Americans to trade with the 
Spanish West Indies. In consequence, the Americans lost their 
former trade with Great Britain and could find no substitute for it. 
The reason assigned by foreign countries for not making com- 
mercial treaties with the United States was the weakness of its 
central government, which could not guarantee the carrying out 
of the terms of such treaties. 

secured a tract in northern Ohio which became known as the Western Reserve. 
South Carohna was the next to yield her charter claims to western lands in 
1787; North Carolina followed in 1790, and Georgia in 1802. These cessions 
were made by the States on condition that the land should be sold to pay the 
debts of the general government, and that as the increase of population justi- 
fied it, the territory was to be divided into new States to be admitted into the 
Union on an equal footing with the rest. 



THE STATES UNDER THE CONFEDERATION 149 




SHOWING STATE CLAIMS TO WESTERN TERRITORY 



150 THE END OF THE CONFEDERATION 

But this was only one of the disadvantages under which the 
States were laboring. Each State could, and in many cases did, 
Interstate Sx tariff rcstrictions upon the products of its neighbors. 
trade ^qy example, New York placed a tariff on New Jersey 

products, and the legislature of New Jersey retaliated by taxing 
the lighthouse on Sandy Hook, which was put there for the bene- 
fit of New York trade. Similar disputes arose between New York 
and Connecticut and among other States. 

At this time the only currency of definite value was foreign 
coin, of which there was little in circulation, because it had been 
so largely drawn upon to pay foreign debts. Neither 
State nor Continental currency had any regularly recog- 
nized value, but some of the States passed laws to make their cur- 
rency good for the payment of debts. Few people, however, would 
accept this paper money; debtors, as in England, were thrown 
into prison, and in many of the States riots took place, the most 
serious of which occurred in Massachusetts under Daniel Shays, 
known in history as ''Sha3^s's Rebellion." * 

96. Formation of a Stronger Central Government, 1786-1789. 
In this crisis the confederated form of union seemed about to fall 
to pieces, but the seriousness of the situation suggested negotiations 
which immediately led to the formation of a new and more efficient 
plan of union and government. 

In 1785 disputes had arisen between Maryland and Virginia 
as to the navigation of the Potomac River, in consequence of 
First steps, which commissioncrs from the two States met at Mount 
and Ann'Lp'^ Vemou. Thc commissloucrs decided to issue a call for 
°''^ a convention representing all the States, for the pur- 

pose of considering the general regulation of trade. This meeting 
was to be held at Annapolis on the 11th of September, 1786. 
On this date the commissioners from but five States put in their 
appearance, and these wisely decided that they would await a 
fuller convention to meet in Philadelphia in the following May. 
not only to consider the regulation of trade, but to discuss the 
advisability of creating a more effective general government. 



A STRONGER CENTRAL GOVERNMENT 151 

The result of this call was the gathering together of distinguished 
men from every State but Rhode Island in a convention which 
was in session at Philadelphia from l\Iay to September, 1787. 

Some delegates came to this convention with the express pur- 
pose of opposing any change in the form of the con- constitu- 
federated government. Others came with the definite ven'tiJn ^n 
purpose of establishing a new form of government phfiaddphia! 
that could and would command respect at home and ^^•J^''^'^ 
abroad. The strongest and most influential delegates with this 
end in view came from Virginia, among Avhom were Washington, 
Madison, Randolph, and Mason. Massachu- 
setts sent Elbridge Gerry and Rufus King; 
Connecticut sent Roger Sherman and Oliver 
Ellsworth ; New York sent Alexander Hamil- 
ton, who had at Annapolis suggested the gen- 
eral call for a complete revision; from Penn- 
sylvania came Franklin, who had returned 
from France and was destined to take an 
important part in the deliberations. Penn- 
sylvania also sent Robert Morris and Gouv- 
erneur Morris, the first of whom subsequently 
planned a financial system; and the other. Bom Liverpool, Eng- 
assisted by Jefferson, afterwards devised our labUshiTparVneVshtp with 
decimal system of coinage. Delaware sent of^'phfiad^ipHf,' nlT;'^ ac- 
John Dickinson, and from South Carolina L^erbei'^^oV^ContintS 
came John Rutledge, with Charles and C. C. S:L'Tbiuty';2=of%^u"ct 
Pinckney. George Washington was elected S cTiS •' Jhe finande? 
the presiding oflficer.^ ?k/.t ."l^etcVe^d^s^pir^ 

The first move of importance was made i?rmevlar^^rhappro''va1 
by Madison, who presented a plan of gov- S'^nri^t^Llf America' 
ernment which was meant to do away with ^^^*^ ^^°^" 
the old form altogether, and to substitute a new and more effec- 
tive one in its place. This new government was to have real 

2 Some of the delegates mentioned above did not entirely approve of the 
Constitution as adopted. Hence, their names do not appear among the signers. 




ROBERT MORRIS 



152 THE END OF THE CONFEDERATION 

powers delegated to it, and although these powers were to be 
limited, they were to be supreme in so far as they did not defi- 
Madison's nitely encroach upon the reserved rights of the States, 
plan of union ]y[aclison's plan provided for the creation of an execu- 
tive to carry out the laws of Congress and a supreme judiciary 
that was to pass upon those laws. 

The Convention, therefore, began to turn its attention to 
these new ideas, which were skilfully brought up by Madison and 
Conflict be- ^bly forwarded by Franklin and Hamilton. The first, 
aTd^snflu serious obstacle toward forming a general representa- 
btates ^-^^ government was the conflict of interests between 

the large and the small States. The latter were jealous of their 
more powerful neighbors and were afraid of losing their influence 
or identities as incHvidual commonwealths. The small States 
argued that representation in Congress should be equal for each 
State, as had been the case under the Confederation. On the 
other hand, the large States maintained that such an arrangement 
would be unfair — that each State should be represented according 
to its population, and that it would not be right for States as 
small as Delaware or Rhode Island to have the voting power of 
States as large or as populous as Virginia and Massachusetts. 
Finally, a compromise was effected by which it was decided that 
First com- the federal legislature should consist of two branches, 
promise ^^^ ^j which was to be a House of Representatives, in 

which the States were to be represented according to population, 
and the other a Senate, in which the States were to have equal 
representation. 

Three other great questions involving conflicting interests 
were brought up in the Convention. These were: (1) differences 
Other prob- bctwcen agricultural and commercial States as to the 
thrcon^ven- regulation of commerce, (2) the enumeration of slaves 
*^°^ as part of the population on which representation was 

to be based, and (3) the continuance ofjthe slave trade. 

In the first place, the agricultural States of the south were 
opposed to imposts or tariffs on manufactured imports, except 



A STRONGER CENTRAL GOVERNMENT 153 

such imposts as would be required to provide sufficient revenue 
for the national government. They were desirous, therefore, of 
making a two-thirds vote in Congress necessary in order First debates 
to pass tariff laws. The northern States, on the other ^^ ^^"^ ^""''^ 
hand, desired that a simple majority vote in Congress should 
regulate trade, and that tariff imposts should be levied not only 
for providing revenue for the government, but for the protection 
and aid of American industries. 

The far southern States argued, further, that additional slave 
labor was necessary for the development of their agricultural re- 
sources, to which the negro slave was especially adapted, nrst debates 
as he was immune to the diseases at that time so fre- °" slavery 
quently contracted in the heated lowlands. These States desired 
the continued importation of negroes from Africa. The New 
England States desired the continuation of this traffic for the 
reason that their merchants were making large profits from it, 
although several of these States had even then practically abol- 
ished slavery within their own borders. 

On the other hand, the middle States, especially Virginia and 
Pennsylvania, were opposed to the importation of additional 
slaves into America. A combination of interests was The second 
effected through a double compromise by which it was ^^"^pr"™^^^ 
agreed that a simple majority in Congress should regulate trade 
and tariff duties, while the African slave trade was permitted to 
continue until 1808. 

Another dispute concerning representation and slavery be- 
came largely a sectional one, since the great bulk of slaves were 
in the States south of Pennsylvania. A number of The debate 

on represen- 

northern delegates were desirous of excluding slaves tinion 
in reckoning population, chiefly on the ground that the slaves 
themselves had no vote or part in representation. Gouverneur 
Morris, of Pennsylvania, urged exclusion as likely also Third com- 
to discourage the African slave trade. When, however, p"""™^^ 
it had been first proposed to tax the States directly in proportion 
to population, John Adams had made a strong argument for a 



154 



THE END OF THE CONFEDERATION 



full count of the slaves for the reason that they were persons as 
well as property and, as such, producers of wealth just as the 
free laborers of Massachusetts. It was finally decided, therefore, 
that slaves were to be counted on a three-fifths basis in reckoning 
the representation of the several States; that is, five slaves were 
to count as three freemen. 

Thus, through a series of compromises, the Federal Constitu- 
tion was made possible and an efficient plan of federal government 
Arguments was Created. This plan of government was to be sub- 

forand . . 

against the mittcd to convcntious especially elected by the people 
government of cach State. The general Convention had declared 
that if as many as nine States should ratify the Constitution, the 
same was to go into effect in the States so ratifying it. Delaware 

was the first State to ratify 
the instrument, but in many 
of the other States a great 
struggle arose between those 
who favored the Constitution 
and those who opposed it. The 
former were called Federalists 
and the latter Anti-Federahsts. 
The Federalists argued that a 
strong central government was 
absolutely necessary, and they 
argued further that if the pro- 
posed plan had defects, these defects could be remedied by amend- 
ments. The Anti-Federalists fell back upon the sentiment of local 
self-government that had previously made the colonies jealous of 
any outside control over their respective and separate govern- 
ments. Many able leaders and patriots of the Revolution felt 
that the central government might use its power to oppress the 
citizens of a State or of a section. 

It was not until July in the following year (1788) that as many 
as nine States agreed to the articles of the Constitution. Virginia 
gave them her assent with the express proviso, ''That the powers 




Courtesy Historical Society of Pennsylvania 

STRONG BOX OF BOBERT MORRIS, 
FINANCIER OF THE REVOLUTION 



DEPARTMENTS OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 155 

granted under the Constitution, being derived from the people 
of the United States, may be resumed by them, whensoever the 
same shall be perverted to their injury or oppression." Yinai ratifi- 
New York incorporated a like provision in her form itates.Vys?- 
of ratification of the Federal Constitution. There was ^^^^ 
no protest made to ratification under these conditions, and there 
seems little doubt that the representatives of other States, while 
not directly declaring for the same urinciple of ultimate indepen- 
dence of action, felt that it was so generally understood and con- 
ceded by public opinion that there would be no contest to hold 
them in the Union should they wish to withdraw from it. North 
Carolina, a State that late in the year had sent delegates to the 
Convention, and Rhode Island, a State that had sent no delegates 
at all, did not accede to the Constitution and become members of 
the Union until 1789 and 1790, respectively.^ 

97. Departments of the Federal Government. — The govern- 
ment as formed under the Constitution was to consist of three 
branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative 
branch, called Congress, was to consist of two houses, . . 

XX f x^ • ' X 1 Legislative 

the Senate and the House oi Representatives. In the 
Senate each State was to have equal representation through two 
Senators, to be chosen by the legislatures of the States for terms 
of six years each. In the House, representation was to be based 
upon population, and representatives were to be elected by the 
people every two years. Congress was empowered to levy taxes 
and import duties, to issue patents and copyrights, to regulate 
commerce with foreign nations, to declare war, to provide for an 
army and navy, to establish post offices, to coin money, etc. 

The executive power was to be placed in the hands of a Presi- 
dent, whose principal duty it was to see that the laws of the 
United States were executed. He was empowered to Executive 
veto bills, or make them of no effect, except when his veto should 
be overruled by a two-thirds majority of both houses of Congress. 

2 Rhode Island ratified the Constitution with a written proviso similar 
to those of New York and Virginia. 



156 THE END OF THE CONFEDERATION 

He was to be chosen by electoral colleges, composed of electors 
from each State; he was to serve for four years, with the privilege 
of re-election. It was provided also that a Vice-President was to 
be elected for a corresponding term, and his duty was to preside 
over the Senate. 

The Constitution provided that the judicial branch should con- 
sist of a supreme court with the power to interpret the laws en- 
acted by Congress.'' The judges of the court were to be 
appointed by the President and were to hold office 
during good behavior. There were also to be lower courts which 
from time to time Congress was empowered to establish. 

98. The First Presidential Elections under the Constitution, 
1789. — Before the dissolution of the Confederation, its Congress 
provided for bringing the new Federal Constitution into operation 
through the election of a national executive, while the people of 
the thirteen States elected an entirely new Federal Congress. 
Presidential electors were chosen in January, 1789. There were 
no party organizations and the Constitution provided that the 
electors should be free to select whom they thought best for 
President. The electors were to be chosen the first Wednesday 
in January; they were to meet the first Wednesday in February, 
and their votes were to be counted in Congress the first Wednes- 
day in March, which fell that year on the fourth. New York was 
Washington to bc the first meeting place of Congress, but it was not 

elected Pres- ., i • i r a m i r- i -r-r 

ident until the sixth oi April that a quorum of the House and 

the Senate reached that city. The electoral votes were counted, 
and Washington was found to be the unanimous choice for Presi 
dent, while John Adams received the largest number of the votes 
for second place, and was elected Vice-President. 

^ Since the interpretative functions of the Supreme Court were a later 
development under the Federal Union, the above statement, although every- 
where accepted as true to-day, was not so accepted at first. The States fre- 
quently asserted such powers as are now ascribed to the Supreme Court, and 
one President, Andrew Jackson, claimed for the Executive an independent 
right to judge what was constitutional and what was not. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 157 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Make notes on some of the chief differences between the government 
of the Confederation and that of the United States under the Constitution. 

2. It is not generally realized how separate and distinct were the former 
colonies. It would have been entirely possible for each one to have become 
a complete country in itself. 

3. Some of the coins which circulated in the States (nearly all more or 
less clipped and therefore of varying value) were Spanish dollars, called also 
"pieces of eight," doubloons, pistols, guineas, gold Johanneses, etc. Imagine 
computing a sale or any business transaction with such a variety of currency. 

4. Suppose, on the other hand, when Jefferson and Morris were arranging 
for a decimal system of money, they had also arranged to establish a decimal 
system of weights and measures. 



CHAPTER XV 

Establishing the Government — Administrations of 
George Washington 

99. Inauguration of Washington. — Washington was inaugu- 
rated on the 30th of April, 1789. Without delay he and the first 
Congress elected under the Constitution set to work to start the 
machinery of the new government. The different States had 
realized the necessity of sending to this Congress abler men than 
had been elected to represent them in the congresses of the Con- 
federation. 

James Madison was foremost in the work of interpretation and 
construction, while executive functions under the President were at 
First Cabi- fi^st divided into three departments, which represented 
°^* the beginning of the presidential cabinet. Thomas 

Jefferson, of Virginia, was appointed Secretary of State; Alexander 
Hamilton, of New York, Secretary of the Treasury; and Henry 
Knox, of Massachusetts, Secretary of War. 

100. Problems of the New Government. — The first question of 
moment which came up before Congress was one which is woven 
into the entire history of this country, and which has proved to 
be a constant source of debate, unrest, or irritation from that 
day to this. Broadly speaking, it was at first the conflict between 
the commercial and the agricultural interests, or between the pro- 
ducer of manufactured goods and the consumer of them. 

In the agricultural communities the great majority of the 
people were growers of raw products and consumers of manufac- 
The tariff turcd goods. Their representatives in Cougrcss favored 
question taxatiou in the form of tariffs or duties on imports as 
the simplest and least objectionable way of raising the money 
necessary to carry on the work of the Federal government. They 
did not wish, however, to make these tariffs any higher than was 
158 



PROBLEMS OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT. 159 

absolutely essential to provide revenue, and they objected to the 
making of tariffs for any other purposes. 

The representatives of the manufacturing communities wished 
to take a step further than this in the matter of the tariff. They 
wished not only a tariff for revenue, but also an increase in the 
rates in order to protect American manufactures against compe- 
tition with imported goods. This, they argued, was to enable 
them to begin industries forbidden in colonial daj^s by Great 
Britain and to aid those industries that were already established. 

It so happened that the northern States contained practically 
all the manufacturing communities, while the southern States 
were almost entirely given over to agricultural pursuits a sectional 
and interests. This discussion, therefore, brought for- ^^^"^ 
ward sectional clashes in the new Congress. The theory of pro- 
tection carried the day, and its growth, which was first stimulated 
after the second war with Great Britain, brought about the 
dangerous tariff dispute in South Carolina in 1831, and became a 
deep-seated cause of differences that led up to the armed conflict 
between the sections in 1861. 

In 1790, on the accession of Rhode Island, the Union was com- 
plete with the thirteen original colonies in the bond of the new 

republic. When Rhode Island entered the Union, she Amendments 
^ to the Con- 

provided not only for her possible withdrawal, but, as a stitution 

requisite to her ratification, she insisted, in common with other 

States, on immediate amendjnents to the Constitution which 

would insure an expressed acknowledgment of the fundamental 

freedom of the people in matters of religious and civil rights, or an 

extension of the principles laid down in the Great Charter of 

English liberties of the thirteenth century. 

There were ten of these amendments, the last of which was a 

general declaration of State rights designed to guard against the 

encroachment bf Federal power, a further illustration The tenth 

of the prevailing devotion to local self-government char- ^°^^^^™^°^ 

acteristic of the colonies. The tenth amendment, afterwards the 

object of tremendous controversy, provided that, "The powers 



160 ESTABLISHING THE GOVERNMENT 

not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor pro- 
hibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively 
or to the people."^ 

The second session of Congress under the Constitution like- 
wise had serious problems to solve. The most important of these 
Financial was how to meet the debts incurred by the Confedera- 
probienis ^-^^^ duriug the war for independence. Washington 
had turned to Alexander Hamilton as the man capable of solving 
this problem, and he could not have made a better choice. Hamil- 
ton now submitted a plan by which the Federal government was 
not only to assume the debt of the Confederation but the State 
debts also. At first, objections were raised to the full payment of 
the general debt on the ground that, as speculators had bought 
in the certificates from the first holders at much less than face 
value, the Confederation, for that reason, did not owe these 
speculators the full amount of the original notes. There was also 
considerable opposition to the assumption by the Federal govern- 
state and meut of State debts. At first thought it may seem 
debts strange that the several States would not have wel- 

comed a plan of payment that would have relieved them of the 
burden of their respective war debts. Such was not the case, 
however, and Hamilton's plan was opposed by representatives 
from a number of the States ; because it tended greatly to enhance 
the prestige or power of the Federal government; and because it 
seemed likely, in equal measure, to encroach upon the sovereignty 
of the individual States. Moreover, this measure was opposed by 
the Congressmen from some of the States because their respective 

^ These amendments are believed by some to have been chiefly the work 
of George Mason, of Virginia, a neighbor of George Washington, and the 
author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, adopted June 12, 1776. 

It is worth recalling that when President Washington made his semi- 
official tour of the New England States in the fall of 1789, Rhode Island was 
then "foreign territory," and he did not venture into that commonwealth 
until it had ratified the Constitution, In hke manner, North Carolina was 
an independent State that for a time interposed itself between the middle 
States and the far south. 



PROBLEMS OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT. 



IGl 



States had already paid a larger proportion of their individual 
debts than had other States. 

The debate on this question was an extended one, notwithstand- 
ing Hamilton's masterly argument in favor of the plan he had pro- 
posed. Its opponents were powerful and they might have prevented 
its adoption but for a compromise in connection with another issue. 
It so happened that Virginia and a number of the southern States 




GEORGE WASHINGTON TAKING THE OATH OF OFFICE AT INAUGURATION AS THE FIRST PRESI- 
DENT OF THE UNITED STATES, NEW YORK, APRIL 30, 1789 

had been the ones to pay the larger proportion of their respective 
war debts. At the same time, southern Congressmen were desirous 
of placing the proposed national capital on the banks of |;°5^*'jj''^.^^^ 
the Potomac rather than in the northern States where itai 
northern representatives wished it to remain. Finally, a compro- 
mise was effected, by which it was agreed that the Federal govern- 
ment should assume the State debts, and that the Federal capital 
should be established on the Potomac instead of at Philadelphia.^ 



2 The debt of the Confederation amounted to $54,000,000. 
war debts of the States amounted to $25,000,000 more. 
11 



The various 



162 ESTABLISHING THE GOVERNMENT 

Another important question was brought to the attention of 
Congress in the form of petitions from the Quakers of Pennsylvania 
The slavery for the abohtiou of slavery. This question, however, had 
tSlfre'^^Con- ^ot yet become a sectional one involving bitter contro- 
gress versy and even more bitter animosities. A memorial 

was presented from the Pennsylvania Societ}^ for Promoting the 
Abolition of Slavery, of which Benjamin Franklin was the president. 
These memorials were, for the most part, expressed in earnest but 
temperate language, and might have been signed by representative 
citizens from any section of the Union who were desirous of abolish- 
ing negro slavery. Congress, however, declared that, under the 
Constitution, this question could be decided by the States only, and 
that the Federal government had no authority in the matter. 

101. Special Legislation of the First Congress. — At the second 
session of the first Congress the first naturalization laws were 
framed, and patent and copyright laws were passed in order to 
encourage invention and authorship. Congress also made pro- 
First census visiou for the first Federal census. This census showed 
a total population of 3,929,000. Virginia led in population, with 
Pennsylvania second, and North Carolina third. ^ 

102. Origin of Political Parties under the Constitution. — The 
third session of the first Congress met in Philadelphia, where it 
was agreed that the seat of the Federal government should con- 
Controversy tiuuc for tcu ycars. Again the report and recommenda- 

over the Gs- 

tabiishment tlous of the Secretary of the Treasury became the chief 

of a national , , „ 

bank subject of coutrovcrsy. This trnie Hamilton came for- 

ward with a plan to provide for a national bank, intended to 
strengthen the general credit of the government and to aid its 
financial operations. Again Hamilton aroused the opponents of 
centralization, who became known as strict constructionists of 
the Constitution, in opposition to those who would broadly con- 
strue or interpret its provisions. 

3 Of the white population 1,900,000 were north of Mason and Dixon's 
line, and 1,271,000 to the south of it. 40,000 slaves were north of the line, 
over 600,000 south of it. 



FURTHER HAMILTONIAN POLICIES 1G3 

Madison, who had done so much to create the Constitution; 
and Jefferson, who had been the leading spirit of the Confedera- 
tion, were now opposed to Hamilton on the constitu- jeffersonand 
tional ground that ''the powers not delegated to the pose'^'H^mTi- 
United States by the Constitution . . . are reserved ^^^ 
to the States." The Constitution, said the strict constructionists, 
did not provide for a national bank. 

On the other hand, Hamilton pointed out that in the first 
article of the Constitution there was a clause giving to the Federal 
government power ''to make all laws which shall be necessary and 
proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers. "^ Hamil- 
ton, therefore, argued that the creation of a national bank was 
necessary as an aid to the government in its financial operations. 

Hamilton secured the legislation he desired, and the bank was 
created with a charter that was to continue for twenty years. Its 
headquarters were in Philadelphia, with branches in ;; strict "and 
other cities. However, the questions raised by Hamil- terpretation 

1 • • 111 • 1- • 1 • • of the Con- 

ton at this time produced a cleavage in political opinion stitution 

on the basis of "strict" and "broad" construction that has had a 
continuous existence to this day. As a general rule, the party in 
power has been the one which declared for a liberal interpretation 
of constitutional questions^ while the party in opposition has 
usually advocated a strict construction.^ 

103. Further Hamiltonian Policies. — Hamilton also strongly 
recommended a policy of high tariff imposts coupled with pro- 
visions for internal improvements by the Federal government, 
such as the making of roads, water routes, and better harbors. 
He was not successful in securing this legislation, but his ideas are 

4 This clause has since become known as the "elastic clause" of the Con- 
stitution, through which the power and authority of the Federal government 
have been extended far beyond the conceptions of its founders. 

^ Exception may be taken as to this statement in reference to the attitude 
of the Democratic party, the only party of approximately continuous existence 
with the Republic. It is contended that, in the main, this party has stood for 
strict construction both in and out of power. 



164 ESTABLISHING THE GOVERNMENT 

important in that they furnished the best arguments for the suc- 
cessful advocates of these measures in later times. 

It will be seen that the Federal government was raising money 
almost wholly by indirect taxation through tariffs on imported 
products. At the same time, Hamilton suggested a plan for an- 
The excise othcr form of taxation known as the excise tax, which 
whisky re- was to be apphed to the making of spirituous liquors 
beiiion throughout the country. This met with so considerable 

an opposition in the mountain districts, especially in western 
Pennsylvania, that Washington in 1794 was forced to call out a 
Federal army to suppress an insurrection, known as the ''Whisky 
RebelHon." This opposition arose from the fact that in these 
districts there were almost no roads upon which the farmers could 
move their crops of grain to market. Consequently, they had 
been converting their grain into whisky, which could be more 
readily transported. The new tax, therefore, bore especially 
hard upon them. They felt that the people of the east were un- 
fairly profiting at their expense.'^ 

Immediate prosperity followed the adoption of Hamilton's 
plan for strengthening the credit of the government. Later, how- 
Resuits of ever, economic depression followed on account of over- 
these policies confidence and the desire of people to become rich 
quickly through reckless speculation. This led to the first financial 
panic of the new government in 1792-1793. 

104. First Accessions to the Union.^The first accession to the 
union of the thirteen original States was Vermont, in 1791. This 
commonwealth had maintained an independent exis- 
tence since 1777. The inhabitants of the State had 
aided the patriot party in the Revolution and had applied for 
admission from time to time to the Confederation, but had been 
refused through the influence of New York, which State claimed 

6 Albert Gallatin, a successor of Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasur3% 
was concerned in the opposition to the tax as a hardship upon the western 
farmers, under the then existing conditions. He did not, however, approve 
of the proposed armed resistance to Federal authority. 



INDIAN WARS 165 

its territory. Two years later the county of Kentucky in Virginia 
had so increased in population that it obtained the consent of 
Virginia to separation. Consequently, Kentucky or- Kentucky 
ganized its own government, applied for admission, and was 
received into the Federal Union in 1792 as the fifteenth State. 
In 1796, Tennessee, the first State carved out of ter- Tennessee 
ritory definitely ceded to the Federal government was admitted 
to the Union. Andrew Jackson, a future President of the United 
States, was elected to Congress as its first representative. Most 
of the territory of Tennessee had been originally known as the 
Wautauga settlements, and at one time it had claimed an inde- 
pendent existence as the State of Frankland or Franklin. This 
was due to some difficulties that had arisen with the parent com- 
monwealth of North Carolina. Later, Tennessee became again a 
part of the mother State. This practical independence of the 
State of Frankland existed from 1784 until 1788, and should be 
compared with the independent existence of Vermont up to the 
date of its admission into the Union in 1791. 

105. Indian Wars, 1790-1795.— The strength of the Federal 
government was early put to a severe test in a formidable Indian 
war in the northwest. The small Federal army was increased, and 
Giaierals Harmar and St. Clair were sent out against First battle 

^ under new 

the hostile tribes. The former was badly defeated on government 
the Maumee River near Fort Wayne, in October, 1790; and Gen- 
eral St. Clair, the territorial governor, with an army of 1400 militia 
and regulars, was, in turn, surprised and defeated by the Indians 
near the same place in November of the following year (1791). 

The news of these defeats reached Philadelphia and caused 
Washington and the government considerable anxiety.^ It also 
showed the need of sending out a leader of recognized ,,. ^ 

^ ^ V 1 o t o r y of 

experience and ability. Consequently, General An- ^^'^^"''y'^'./ '^"" 

thony Waj^ne was now selected to unite the troops that 

had survived the disasters under Generals Harmar and St. Clair, 

^ The anxiety of the government is plainly shown by the efforts made 
through commissioners or agents to sue for peace with the allied Indian tribes. 




166 ESTABLISHING THE GOVERNMENT 

and to drill recruits near Pittsburgh and at Ft. Washington, near 
Cincinnati. After careful preparation, Wayne marched into the 
Indian territory and won a decisive victory in the important 
battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794.^ 

106. Washington Re=elected, 1792. — Washington's first term 
as President expired in 1793, and he was desirous of retiring to 
private life, but the need for his continu- 
ance at the head of the new government was 
so great that he was induced to serve for 
another period of four years. Accordingly, 
he was unanimously re-elected, and John 
Adams of Massachusetts again became Vice- 
President. 

107. Formation of Political Parties. — It 
will be remembered that Hamilton and Jef- 
ferson had been chosen by Washington as 
Born^EirTown^pr.jan Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of 
jHo/t'cfRevdutio^-jSi ^^^^^6 rcspectivcly, but these men did not 
fhTwTAorS^Sd?p\n"i work together in harmony, and had very dif- 
mnt"^of\^H?adl;'r-ieTerai'i ^^^"^^^ ^^^^s of govemmeut. Broadly speak- 
reu>ing°from''contlnind ^^S' Hamilton's idcas were similar to those 
aS'tTirn1a\°io^n'x"id entertained by the leading European states- 

de'Sted to'''' Federar'^coS- ^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ' ^^^^ ^^^ gOVemmeut should 
gress, 1791; as major-gen- be COUtroUcd Or COUductcd by a Sclcct fcW, 
eral of b ederal forces, ^ ' 

took the field against the choscu from thosc who wcre well educated or 

Indians after defeats of 

ciTir''romin™Yhe''''fiii?d ^^^^ thosc who posscssed property or had 

tribes at the great victory Jarge busiuCSS iutcrests. 
of I' alien Timbers in 1/94; ^ 

nicknamed "Mad An- Qu the othcr hand, Jeffcrsou was opposed 

thony for reckless daring ... 

in battle. Died 1796. to spccial privileges for any men or class of 
men ; he firmly believed in giving all classes an equal voice or share 
in the government. The Hamilton] an view was said by its oppo- 

* This battle with the Indians is notable for the cavalry charge of the white 
men, and is interesting further for the adoption of advice given to Wayne by 
an old Indian fighter. This was to the effect that if the Indians were charged 
with shouts louder than their own they could more readily be put to flight. 



FORMATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES 



167 



nents to be aristocratic, if not monarchical, while Jefferson was 
accused of favoring mob rule, if not of promoting actual anarchy. 
Both wished for the success of the government, but they thought 
that success could best be brought about only through the adoption 
of their respective plans of procedure. 

Washington earnestly wished to avoid any connection with 
one faction or party as against another, but when party differences 
became more and more distinct he was to some extent Federalist 

and JJemo- 

forced to take a stand with one or the other, and cratic-Re- 

publican par- 
Hamilton's theories appealed to him more forcibly ties 

than those of Jefferson. At first Hamilton and his faction pre- 
vailed in shaping the policies of the government— he and his fol- 
lowers were called Federalists — while 
Jefferson and his adherents became 
known as Republicans or Democratic^ 
Republicans, the founders of the Dem- 
ocratic party. On account of disagree- 
ments, both Hamilton and Jefferson 
retired from the cabinet, and each 
began to advocate his particular theo- 
ries of government. Hamilton, Adams, 
Marshall, and C. C. Pinckney became 
the recognized leaders of the Federal 
party; on the other hand, Jefferson and 
Madison became the leaders of the Re- 
publicans, who were destined in a few 
years to prevail over the Federalists. 

It is perhaps fortunate that the 
Hamiltonian theories were at first 
largely accepted and carried out, as 
through them the Federal government 
was the better enabled to gain the 
strength necessary to pass through the 
trials and difficulties of its formative period. It is also perhaps 
equally fortunate that the Democratic-Republican party gained 




ABIGAIL SMITH ADAMS 

Wife of John Adams, second Presi- 
dent of United States. Born Wey- 
mouth, Mass., Nov. 23, 1744; mar- 
ried John Adams on Oct. 25, 1764; 
left a number of letters of keen com- 
ment on men, manners, and meas- 
ures of her day. In one of these, she 
writes to her husband: " I have taken 
a very great fondness for reading 
Rollin's Ancient History since you 
left me. I am determined to go 
through with it, if possible, in these 
my days of solitude. I find great 
pleasure and entertainment from it, 
and I have persuaded Johnny (after- 
wards the sixth President of the 
United States] to read me a page 
or two every day, and hope he will, 
from his desire to oblige me, enter- 
tain a fondness for it." 



168 ESTABLISHING THE GOVERNMENT 

precedence later, as it served to correct the aristocratic tenden- 
cies of the Federalists, and the over-centralization of government, 
which would have deprived the States of many of their proper 
prerogatives, and which would have caused this government to 
lose some of the features that especially differentiate it from the 
governments of the Old World. 

108. Foreign Affairs during Washington's Second Term. — In 
addition to the early internal dissensions of Washington's second 
administration, difficulties arose with three foreign nations. 
France had thrown off its monarchical form of government, and 
under popular leaders, among whom was Lafayette, had first es- 
tablished a moderate form of Republican government. This in 
turn had been replaced by one so extreme as to drive Lafayette 
himself into exile. The new government had instituted such a 
reign of terror and proscription that it had shocked conservative 
The French scutimcnt iu both Europe and America. France forth- 
Revoiution ^j^j^ declared war on neighboring nations, especially 
England. It now called upon the United States to redeem pledges 
of mutual help and assistance made in the alliance of 1778, but 
Washington and his advisers were unwilling to involve their 
country in a foreign war which seemed to them an unjustifiable 
one. Largely on the ground that the French government with 
whom the treaty had been .made had been overthrown and that 
Neutrality of Fraucc was Waging an aggressive rather than a defensive 

the United . 

States war, the United States government declared its inten- 

tion to remain neutral. Even Jefferson, whose sympathies were 
naturally with the French revolutionists in overthrowing aristoc- 
racy and special privilege, could not sanction their subsequent 
excesses. 

The Republic of France sent to this country as its minister 

Edmond Genet, called ''Citizen" Genet. He was received in the 

United States with such popular acclamations that he 

Citizen Genet 

was deceived into thinking that the government was 
going to be forced into alliance with France. He immediately set 
about organizing in United States ports privateering expeditions 



WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. 1G9 

to prey upon the commerce of England. Finally, however, he was 
rebuked by \Vashington for his over-zealous and improper conduct; 
and the United States government requested that he be recalled.^ 

Difficulties now arose with Great Britain with respect to the 
northwestern territory, the arbitrary action of British men-of-war 
in searching American vessels for British subjects, and controversy 
the restrictions upon United States trade. Washington, l^fh G*reL^ 
therefore, felt obliged to send a special commissioner ^"^^'^ 
to England, and he selected Chief Justice John Jay for this office. 
Jay signed a treaty in November, 1795, which was received in 
this country the following March, and was ratified by the Senate 
at a special session held in June. The terms of the treaty became 
known shortly thereafter and, on the ground that it did not bind 
England to abandon the alleged right to search American ships 
and to impress sailors, it was violently opposed in the United 
States. It did, however, arrange for the surrender by the British 
of the forts in the northwest, and provided for the payment of 
indemnity for illegal captures of American trading vessels. 

In addition to the disputes with France and England, the 
United States became involved in a misunderstanding with 
Spain. For a time the Spanish government threat- Difficulties 
ened to repudiate a treaty made in 1795, by the pro- ""'^^ ^^""'"^ 
visions of which the settlers west of the Alleghanies had secured 
the free navigation of the Mississippi River, a matter of the great- 
est importance to their continued prosperity. These cUfficulties 
were finally adjusted, however, and development of the future 
States east of the Mississippi went on rapidly. 

109. Washington's Farewell Address, December 17, 1796. — 
President W^ashington refused positively to accept a third term; 
and on September 17, 1796, he issued a farewell address, notable 
for its wisdom and spirit of patriotism. In this address he warned 
his countrymen against party violence, sectional jealousies, and 
entangling alliances with the nations of the Old World. 

3 Citizen Genet did not return to France, but married and settled in this 
country. 



170 ESTABLISHING THE GOVERNMENT 

110. Presidential Elections of 1796. — In the subsequent elec- 
tion the Federalists put forward as candidate for President, 
John Adams, of Massachusetts, while the Republicans supported 
Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia. When the electoral votes were 
counted it was found that Adams was chosen President with 71 
electoral votes. Jefferson, of the opposite party, having received 
the next highest number of votes (68) was elected Vice-President. 
This was in accord with the first method of electing President 
and Vice-President through the electoral colleges. 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Section 99 gives the names of the three officials in the first Cabinet. 
Do you know the names of the members of the present Cabinet holding the 
same positions? The Cabinet is much larger now. Can you name some of the 
positions created since ^^'ashington's administrations? 

2. About what proportion of the present United States did the Union 
embrace when the Constitution was ratified by all the States? Was the 
future site of the Federal capital nearly a central point then? Is it now? 

3. In your opinion, did American slavery degrade or improve the condi- 
tion of the African negro? Was slavery an advantage to the Americans, or 
could they have developed their farms better without the help of the negro? 
Would it have been better for both to have remained on their respective 
continents? 

4. Which was the largest State of the original thirteen at the time of the 
ratification of the Constitution? Which is the largest State in the Union to-day? 

5. Do you think the United States government was right in not helping 
France in return for the help France gave the United States? 

6. Is there any subject brought up in Chapter XV about which you would 
like to read more fully? 



CHAPTER XVI 

Administration of John Adams — Defeat of the Federa- 
lists — Social and Economic Review 

111. Difficulties with France, 1797-1800.— The administration 
of John Adams proved to be a stormy one. Fresh difficulties 
with France arose at the beginning of his term in 1797. The 
provisions of the Jay treaty had been offensive to the French 
government, but James Monroe, a RepubUcan, had been accep- 
table as the representative of the United States. He was 
now replaced by Charles C. Pinckney, a Federalist from South 
Carolina. The French government resented the change and 
refused to receive the new minister. This was followed by hostile 
acts on the part of the French in the seizure of American ships 
and merchandise President Adams called a special session of 
Congress, and John Marshall and Elbridge Gerry were, together 
with Pinckney, appointed envoys extraordinary to France. 

Privately these envoys were received at Paris with courtesy, 
but they were not officially recognized for many months. While 
in Paris, however, they were approached by the emissaries of 
Talleyrand, the French minister, through whom it was suggested 
that if money were forthcoming in the nature of bribes or induce- 
ments to French officials, negotiations could be successfully con- 
cluded. These proposals were rejected by the American envoys, 
who, in the official correspondence to the United States x. y. z. let- 
government, referred to the three agents of Talleyrand ^^^^ 
as X, Y, and Z. When the nature of the ''X.Y.Z. letters" became 
known^ widespread resentment was aroused in the United States, 
a resentment that reacted favorably to the Federalist party. 

Meanwhile the French government, elated over the wonderful 
victories of its young general, Napoleon Bonaparte, was disposed 

171 



172 ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN ADAMS 

to despise the weakness of the distant American republic. On the 
other hand, the very completeness of Napoleon's success aroused 
Preparation ^ coalitiou of Europcan powers against France, and the 
for war Frcnch government had sufficient trouble to occupy 

it at home without provoking the active hostility of the United 
States. Nevertheless, in America, preparations for war went on, 
Period of re- behind which there was an active accord of pubhc 
tahation opinloil. Washington was appointed commander-in- 
chief, and orders were given for the buying and equipment of 
war vessels to be added to the small United States navy, which at 
that time could boast of but three finished 
frigates, the Constitution, the United States, 
and the Constellation. The last named, under 
Commodore Truxtun, had sharp engagements 
with French war ships, defeating one and cap- 
turing the frigate, L' Insurgents (1799), in a 
fight which lasted over an hour, and in which 
the French vessel had 41 men killed and a 
large number wounded. The American loss 
was two killed. There was some privateering 
connected with these hostilities, but peaceful 

Born Braintree, Mass., Got. i ,• ■, , ,i i i • 

19,1735. Studied law and rclations betwecu the two countries were re- 
became Colonial leader; , i t i i i ,• • i • o 

tookprominentpartinCon- cstabhshcd by a couveutiou Signed m Sep- 

tinental Congresses; moved . ■, i cr\r\ 

the adoption, 1775, of Con- tcmber, 18UU. 
tinental Arrny before Bos- < t /^ a «• j t> j'x* i «»--- mi. 

ton, with Washington at its 1 12. Alien aod Scdition Laws, i yy». — The 

head; after signing Declara- ttiitj liii - i r i 

tion of Independence was ^ eoeralists, elated by evidences oi popular 

(1777) appointed commis- n i , , ^ r ii 

sioner to France; had diffi- laVOr, UOW SOUght to make USC 01 the gOV- 

culties in latter country , . i j. i r, • r ±\ • 

withFrankiin; became min- cmment to crush the morc obuoxious 01 their 

ister to Holland; played im- , ^-^ xi ju tt^ i t j. 

portant part in first treaty oppoucnts. Consequently, the 1^ ederaiiSL ma- 
BriS; ministe?"to Great jority in Cougrcss passcd the Alien Acts in 
i7"9-i797;PrSenTi797- 1798. One of thcse acts empowered the Pres- 
versary of i?eciarltio^n ""of idcut to cxpcl from the United States any 
n epen ence, . foreigner whom he deemed dangerous to the 

peace and safety of the country. This act was aimed in a large 
measure at certain aliens who were editors of Republican papers, 




JOHN ADAMS 



OPPOSITION TO FEDERALIST POLICIES 



173 



and who had been especially offensive in the abuse of the admin- 
istration. It was to be effective for two years only, and although 
the law was never put into execution it aroused a fear that such 
governmental power, if admitted in any case, might seriously en- 
danger the liberties of the people. Another act joassed in July 
of the same year caused even greater appre- 
hension. This was known as the Sedition 
Act, which made it a crime to publish false 
or malicious writings against the govern- 
ment or Congress. It went further and 
provided for the fine or imprisonment of 
those who might combine in opposition tu 
any measure of the government. 

1 13. Opposition to Federalist Policies. — 
The Federalists had now gone too far in 
their efforts at centralizing the government, 
and public opinion went strongly against 
them. The great Democratic-Republican 
leaders, Jefferson and Madison, felt that From bust by Houdon 




JOHN MARSHALL 



Born Fauquier Co., Va., 
1755. Studied law: 



such policies as were represented by the Alien 

and Sedition Acts must be given up at once sep t°™4 

if the Union were to continue. Denunciation ^^ SvSutS^eio'n^lSJ 

of these policies in Congress was considered tu7^'lY\r7i:'^ tViltt 

useless, if such action did not render those Seclaf Invov to°?rLncer: 

protesting liable to criminal prosecution; so ^t^T'ir's'^IpSed 

Jefferson and Madison ^ struck at them chief 7lt"L%l\Vd sSle^ 

through the medium of two States.' The fn"%;?\?drtilf hi^dS 

former prompted the legislature of Kentucky ^^ ^^^^■ 

to pass a series of resolutions declaring the Alien and Sedition 

Acts unconstitutional, and, therefore, ''void, and of no force.'' 

The resolutions also asserted that each State could decide for 



1 IMadison's Virginia resolutions denounced the Alien and Sedition Act as 
"palpable and alarming infractions of the Constitution," and asserted that 
the States "have the right and are in duty bound to interpose" in arresting 
unwarranted encroachments upon their rights and liberties. 



17i ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN ADAMS 

itself whether legislation passed by Congress was within the scope 

of the powers delegated by the States to the Federal government. 

, This represented the doctrine of nullification, an ex- 

Doctnno of /> c oi • i i 

nullification trcmc form of state rights theory, set over against the 

announced n t • » . ^ 

Sedition Act, as an extreme policy of Federalism. 
Both were fraught with danger to the perpetuation of the Union, 
although neither was intended to be made operative except in 
cases of great provocation, or as a last resort. Both, also, were 
framed by eminent founders and exponents of the Federal Con- 
stitution shortly after that instrument was put into effect.^ 

114. Federalist Dissensions and Downfall. — The sedition law 
of the Federalists secured a few convictions among the number of 
their bitterest enemies, but it proved their undoing as a party. 
Moreover, Washington had died on the 14th of December, 1799; 
and, although he had desired to be allied to no party or faction, 
it was known that he was more friendly with the Federalists than 
their Republican opponents. His death, therefore, was a blow to 
the waniag influence of the party in power. Factions within the 
Federalist party itself hastened its downfall, since Hamilton was 
not at all favorably disposed to Adams, who was a candidate for 
a second term as President. 

In the election that followed, Jefferson and Burr, Republicans, 
received 73 votes each and Adams 65. The House of Represen- 
jefferson tativcs, bciug Called upon to decide between the two 

elected Presi- t re r t\ • ^ 

dent, 1800 Candidates, chose Jefferson for President. Burr, by 
virtue of having the next highest vote, became Vice-President. 

The Federalists were now defeated in both the executive and 
the legislative branches of the government, but, before Adams 
John Mar- retired from the Presidency, he made as many ap- 
p^oVn t e^d pointments in the Federal judiciary as possible, so as 
Chief Justice ^^ perpetuate Federalist principles in that department 
at least. Among these appointments was that of John Marshall 
of Virginia, as Chief Justice, who from 1801 to 1835 steadily 

2 See section 97; footnote, p. 156. 



SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC REVIEW 



175 



strengthened centralizing tendencies of Federal developmenjt. 
This he did by means of decisions broadly interpreting the ''im- 
plied powers" of the Federal government through the ''elastic 
clause" in the Constitution. 

115. Social and Economic Review. — At the beginning of the 
nineteenth century the United States showed an increase of 35 
per cent in population over the census of 1790. Vir- Population 
ginia and Pennsylvania still led in population over the other 
States, but New York had supplanted North Carolina for third 
place. The cities were not yet very 
large, and the trend of population was 
to the west. 'By the opening years of 
the nineteenth century half a million 
people had settled along the water 
courses and on the fertile plains beyond 
the Alleghanies. 

There were at this time two States 
west of the Alleghanies and south of the 

Territorial Ohio (KcntUCky and Ten- 
development nessee), and one territorial 
government (Mississippi) formed in 
1798 out of the region west of Georgia, 
and largely out of territory claimed 
by that State. To the north of the 
Ohio there were but Iavo territorial 
governments. Both were sparsely set- 
tled. One covered the present State of 
Ohio, and the other, called Indiana, 
embraced the remainder of the north- 
west territory secured by the expedition of George Rogers Clark. 
Agricultural methods and implements of all kinds were still 
crude and clumsy, but American inventive genius was no longer 
fettered by the former restrictions of the mother coun- inventions 
try on manufactures. The era of great inventions and ments 
discovery had begun. Washington had given great attention to 




DANIEL BOONE 

Born Bucks Co., Pa .Feb. 11,1735. 
Accompanied his father to North 
Carolina in the early fifties, became 
a noted frontiersman and Indian 
fighter, chiefly in Kentucky, al- 
though advancing civilization and 
his own failure to secure titles to 
land led him to cross the Missis- 
sippi. Died 1S20. 



176 ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN ADAMS 

books and theories on agriculture. He had encouraged by sym- 
Rumsey's pathy and interest, if somewhat frugally in purse, the 

first steam- \,„ „ ^ -r. i t^ 

boat efforts of James Rumsey, who on the Potomac at Shep- 

herdstown, Virginia (West Virginia), constructed the first boat 
propelled by steam (1787).^ 

Rumsey's experiments in steam navigation were almost simul- 
taneous with those of John Fitch on the Delaware and William 
Longstreet in Georgia, both of whom propelled vessels by steam 
Fulton, the powcr. It remained, however, for Robert Fulton, of 
sfeamboat Pennsylvania, to construct the steamboat that estab- 
navigation jighed itsclf for all time as a practical means of trans- 
portation by water. His first boat, the Clermont, made regular 
trips between New York and Albany in 1807. Fulton is, therefore, 
rightly called the father of steamboat navigation, although he 
was preceded by others in propelling boats by steam power. 

Two of the greatest statesmen of America were also inventors 
and pioneers in fields of scientific research. These w^re Thomas 
Jefferson Jeffcrsou and Benjamin Franklin. Jefferson, for in- 

and Franklin • i i / 

as inventors staucc, rcccived a gold medal from the French govern- 
ment for the invention of an improved plowshare; while Frank- 
lin's experiments and discoveries in connection with electricity 
showed conclusively the identity of lightning and the electricity 
caused b}^ friction. Franklin also demonstrated that the electric 
current itself might be artificially controlled or directed. 

2 Letters from George Washington and others show that Rumsey con- 
structed a model of this first steamboat as early as 1784. His first trip against 
current was made in a boat constructed after the design of his model. He 
had, however, neither money nor facilities to perfect his invention. Wash- 
ington contented himself with writing to the inventor to beware of imitators, 
but Benjamin Franklin became interested in his plans and Rumsey was urged 
to go abroad to secure patents and extend his work. Just as he seemed about 
to obtain in Ivondon the financial assistance he needed, he became ill and died 
in England, December 23, 1792; and it is interesting to note that Robert 
Fulton, the father of steamboat navigation, was also abroad at that time 
studying Watt's steam engine, and, later, experimenting with submarine 
crafts for the French government. Cf. French claims for Jouffroy d'Abbans. 



SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC REVIEW 177 

Another invention of the closing years of the eighteenth century 
was that of the cotton gin by EU Whitney, a native of Massachu- 
setts, who was teaching school and studying law at the Whitney's 
home of General Nathanael Greene in Georgia, Whit- ^^"^° ^''^ 
ney's invention greatly facilitated the separation of cotton fibre 
from the seed, a separation that had previously ])ppn done by hand. 




"mONTICELLO," ALBEMARLE COUNTY. VIRGINIA; THE HOME OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 

At once the cultivation of cotton became the leading industry 
of the Gulf States, and in seven years, or from 1793 to 1800, the 
export of southern cotton to the English mills increased increase in 
from almost nothing to millions of pounds. Negro andthe vSSI 
slave labor was not only well adapted to the raising of °^ ^^^'''' ^^^'''' 
cotton, but it was considered essential to its successful develop- 
ment. This widespread beUef made such labor doubly valuable 
in the far south and increased the activity of the slave trade until 
terminated in 1808.^ 

^ Ships engaged in this traffic had regular routes from several of the New 
England States to the West Indies, wliither they took merchandise to exchange 
for tropical products, especially sugar and molasses. They then returned to 
the New England coast, converted the molasses into rum and w^ent from there 
to Africa. With the rum and with beads and trinkets they bought the igno- 
rant savages of Africa. The slave vessels now returned to America and sold 
their cargoes in the southern slave markets. This continued until 1808 or 



178 ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN ADAMS 

In the north, commerce and manufactures were added to 
agriculture and made for diversity of pursuits. In the south, on 
Sectional dif- the othcr hand, African slave labor and the value of the 
ferences spccial crops raiscd by that labor prevented or hindered 

diversity. Thus the sections grew more and more unlike in pursuits 
and interests, and, what is very important to remember, developed 
different needs or wants. The sectional conflict, therefore, be- 
tween free trade or tariff for revenue, on the one hand, and high 
tariffs or protection, on the other, began and continued with but 
few interruptions until slavery, the principal cause of these dif- 
ferences, w^as abolished.^ 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Was this country prepared for a war with France in 1797? Would Great 
Britain have been likely to aid France or the United States? If the British 
navy had opposed France, could the latter 's ships have reached America? 

2. Section 113 tells of a clash between the authority of the State govern- 
ments and*that of the Federal government. In the beginning, at least some 
of the founders of the Constitution thought that the States should declare the 
acts of Congress unconstitutional. What authority decides such questions 
now — the State governments, the Federal government, or the Supreme Court 
of the United States? 

3. Who was the man who more, perhaps, than anyone else enhanced the 
l^ower and prestige of the Federal government subsequent to its establishment 
under the Constitution. See Sec. 114, last paragraph. 

the limit of the license set by the Constitution. Clergymen in the north would 
return thanks for the safe arrival of these slave ships, and good people in the 
south would rejoice that more heathen had thus been brought over to be 
civilized and instructed in the Christian faith. On this point, it may truly 
be said that the negroes were vastly raised in the scale of civilization under 
their American bondage; but the conduct of this traffic and the methods used 
in the transportation and sale of the negroes were often extremely cruel. 

^ It must be understood that the dispute between the advocates of a 
protective tariff and those of a tariff for revenue or free trade continued, but 
became non-sectional in character. Except for short periods prior to 1861, 
the high tariff advocates controlled Congress until 1913, when notable reduc- 
tions were made in previously existing duties, reductions that were opposed 
by some of the southern Senators and Congressmen. 



CHAPTER XVII 

Administrations of Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809: Terri- 
torial Expansion and the Tripolitan War 

1 1 6. Jefferson's Views and Policies. — Jefferson entered upon his 
administration in 1801 with the theory that the Stateswere to be the 
chief source of government, and the Federal authority or prerogative 
should be minimized as far as possible. He held that the functions 
of the central government should be confined chiefly to foreign 
affairs; and that, if this principle were put in practice, the Federal 
organization and duties would become simple and inexpensive, thus 
leaving to the respective States the self-government for wdiich they 
had striven as colonies of Great Britain. Jefferson outlined these 
views in his inaugural address. He was sincere in advocating them, 
and he intended to carry them out; but during his administrations 
unforeseen events so shaped themselves that good judg- Jefferson's 
ment and broad statesmanship caused him to adopt a consistency 
course which not only expanded the powers of the central govern- 
ment but rivaled Napoleon Bonaparte in adding to the domain of 
his country. Jefferson, however, acquired permanent possession 
through diplomacy and purchase; while Napoleon seized new ter- 
ritory by force of arms, and afterwards lost all that he had gained. 

At the very outset of his Presidency, Jefferson was nettled by 
the action of his predecessor in appointing, literally at the last 
minute of his term, as many Federalists as possible to Federal ap- 
governmental positions. Jefferson denounced these po^'^t™^"*^ 
''eleventh-hour appointments," and, as far as he could, he turned 
the appointees out. He selected James Madison as Secretary of 
State and Albert Gallatin as Secretary of the Treasury.^ 

1 It was said that at the stroke of twelve midnight of March 3, 1801, the 
newly appointed Republican Attorney-General, Levi Lincoln of Massachusetts, 
walked in upon the Federalist Secretary of State, John Marshall, and stopped his 
counter-signing of commissions or appointments to office that had just been con- 
firmed by the Federalist Senate. President Adams declined to stay in Washin,^;- 
ton to welcome a successor whom he at that time both disliked and distrusted. 

179 



ISO 



ADMINISTRATIONS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 




117. War with the Barbary States, 1801-1804.— Just as Jeffer- 
son and his cabinet were beginning to carry out their poHcy of 
Federal economy, aggravated difficulties came up with the inhabi- 
tants of the Barbary States of North Africa. 
These Mohammedan peoples had been prey- 
ing upon the commerce of Europe and had 
exacted tribute even from the strongest na- 
tions. They despised the American Republic, 
which 'also had been paying tribute. Later, 
when the United States began to take over 
some of the trade that the warring nations 
of Europe were losing, the Barbary pirates, 
ignoring their treaties with the United States, 
captured American merchantmen at will. 

Jefferson set himself to the task of teach- 
ing the corsairs of Tripoli and Algiers a lesson. 
He reorganized the small navy of the United 
States, successfully advocated the construc- 
tion of additional frigates, and used them to 
good effect in European waters. In a short 
time the distant young republic had taught 
the piratical Mohammedans a respect for 
peaceful commerce that all the powers of 
Europe had failed or neglected to instil- 

118. Acquisition of the Louisiana Terri= 
tory, 1803. — In the same year that war with 
the Barbary nations began, the United States 
was seriously threatened by the power and 
expansion of France. It was discovered that 
Napoleon had negotiated a secret treaty with 
Spain, the terms of which included the transfer to Spain cedes 

Louisiana to 

France of New Orleans and the whole of Spanish Lou- France 
isiana. The United States had not as yet been recognized as a 

2 The nations of Europe, rather than engage in a concerted effort to sup- 
press these piratical peoples, preferred to pay tribute for exemption frona 



THOMAS JEFFERSON 

Born Albemarle Co., 
Va., Apr. 13, 1743. Began 
public life as member of Vir- 
ginia House of Burgesses, 
1 769-1774 ; member of Con- 
tinental Congress, 1775; 
again a member in 1776, 
when h e drew up the 
Declaration of Indepen- 
dence; Governor of Vir- 
ginia, 1779-1781; member 
Congress of Confedera- 
tion, 1783; United States 
commissioner abroad, 1784, 
later succeeding Franklin 
as minister to France: ap- 
pointed Secretary of State 
under Washington; Vice- 
President, 1797-1801 ; Pres- 
ident, 1801-1809; secured 
Louisiana territory and 
laid claim to Oregon coun- 
try; in 1819, established 
University of Virginia; 
strongly advocated eman- 
cipation and deportation of 
negroes; was noted as phi- 
losopher and in many 
branches of science and art. 
Died on semi-centennial of 
adoption of Declaration of 
Independence, July 4, 1826. 



ACQUISITION OF THE LOUISIANA TERRITORY ISl 

first-class power in European affairs; but Jefferson let it be known 
that if New Orleans and the Mississippi passed under French 
control, he would seek an alliance with Great Britain and drive 
France off the seas. This threat apparently had no immediate 
effect, but when Napoleon in 1803 was again involved in war 
with Great Britain, he saw that he could not easily hold Louis- 
iana, and he feared that it might fall into the hands of the Brit- 
ish and thereby increase the prestige of his most powerful foe. 

Jefferson had already authorized Livingston, the American 
minister at Paris, to propose the purchase of New Orleans and 
West Florida. As the negotiations progressed but slowly, he sent 
James Monroe to assist Livingston. Later, Napoleon Napoleon 
offered to sell not only New Orleans but the entire ia'na%o°tTe 
Louisiana territory. This proposal was accepted by ^^^ted states 
Livingston and Monroe. Consequently, a treaty to that effect was 
drawn up under date of April 30, 1803. By the terms of this 
treaty. President Jefferson authorized the purchase, for $15,000,000, 
of a territory more than double the original area of the United 
States and greater than the combined area of France, Germany, 
Spain, Portugal, and the British Isles. 

Alexander Hamilton approved of the territorial acquisition 
thus secured by his pohtical rival, but the Federahsts of New 
England felt that the influence of their section was about to be 
lost in the expansion of the southwest. The old de- ^^^p^^^.rfj^^5j 
votion to local or State interests, coupled with the fear the^ Jf'^Lou- 
of outside tyranny, now reappeared with unabated isiana 
vigor, and the treaty was so violently opposed that the perpetuity 
of the Union was seriously threatened. It was argued that the 

attack. Great Britain was secretly glad that these corsairs were capturing 
the merchantmen of the United States, as it was a blow directed at a dangerous 
rival. ''If there were no Algiers, we would have to construct one," is said to 
have been the remark of a British statesman. In this war a young lieutenant, 
Stephen Decatur, especially distinguished himself by his courage on the sea 
and in the harbor of TripoH. Moreover, the navy obtained a training in actual 
warfare which stood them in good stead in the second war with Great Britain, 
which was soon to begin. 



182 ADMINISTRATIONS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 

act was extra-constitutional, and that if a single State should 
oppose the treaty it ought to be made null and void. The Massa- 
chusetts legislature declared that the acquisition of Louisiana 
''formed a new Confederacy to which the States united by the 
Secession formcr compact are uot bouud to adhere." A separate 
proposed ^^.Qj^ ^£ ^^^^ York and the New England States was 
proposed. In this scheme, or in order to unite the opposition to 
the Republican policies, the Federalists sought the aid of Vice- 
President Aaron Burr. Consequently, Burr was put forward as a 
candidate for governor of New York; but Hamilton worked against 
Burr and for his opponent, Morgan Lewis, with the result that 
Burr was defeated. 

Angered by his failure, Burr accused Hamilton of slander and 
challenged him to a duel. As duelling was then generally sanc- 
Death of tioucd by public custom, Hamilton felt obliged to accept 
Hamilton ^^^ challenge. The great Federalist had determined 
not to take the life of his opponent, but Burr fired with fatal effect, 
and Hamilton fell mortally wounded, July 11, 1804.^ 

The tragic death of Hamilton shocked the country, and as it 
was found that Burr had been the instrument by which the seces- 
Anaiysis of siouists hopcd to wiu ovcr New York, feeling went hard 

Federalist . . I'l 

view against them even m their own section. This scheme 

of secession has been called a conspiracy, but the term conspirator 
cannot justly be apphed to many of those interested in its success. 
It was in another form a renewed expression of the local patriot- 
ism about which colonial ideas of liberty chiefly centred. In 
this case the spirit of local patriotism was aroused by the fear 

3 Burr thereafter conspired against his country from the outside. While 
he was still Vice-President, he entered into treasonable conferences with the 
British minister. Later, he sought to detach the Louisiana territory from the 
United States and therewith to set up a new country. It is believed that he 
was at first encouraged by General James Wilkinson, governor of the Louisiana 
territory, who himself had intrigued with Gates against Washington in the 
Revolution. Wilkinson, however, turned against Burr in 1806; and the latter, 
learning that President Jefferson had ordered his arrest, tried to escape. He 
was captured and tried for treason, but was acquitted. 



JEFFERSON RE-ELECTED 



183 



that the influence of community and State might be wholly lost 
in an over-powerful central government, the increased preroga- 
tives of which might, under a hostile majority, be used for purposes 
of oppression. 

119. Jefferson Re=elected ; Further Plans for Continental 
Expansion. — The presidential election of 1804 followed these 
events and Jefferson was re-elected by an overwhelming major- 
ity, receiving 162 electoral votes against 14 cast for the Federalist 
candidate, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of South Carohna, 
George Clinton, of New York, was elected Vice-President. 




'f^;-0^.^- 




The year in which the seat of government was removed to the future site of the "Federal 
City," as it was designated by the first President, after whom it was named. 

Jefferson's dreams of peaceful expansion were not confined to 
territory thus gained. His mind turned at once to the unknown 
region extending westward to the Pacific from the upper boun- 
daries of the Louisiana purchase, and lying to the north of the 
Spanish territory in and beyond the Rocky INIountains. He selected 
a young Virginian, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to lead an ex- 
ploring party across the Rocky Mountains into the extreme 
northwest. Lewis, in turn, selected Captain William Lewis and 

' ' ^ Clark expe- 

Clark, a younger brother of George Rogers Clark, to dition 

be his associate in the expedition. These two leaders and a small 

band of United States soldiers and Kentucky volunteers set out 



184 ADMINISTRATIONS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 



from the banks of the Mississippi in the present State of Missouri 
in Ma}^, 1804. They ascended the Missouri River to its source, 
crossed the Great Divide, and descended the Columbia to the 
Pacific Ocean, claiming the Oregon country, as it was called, for 
the United States. This journey was accomplished only after 
great suffering, hardships, and peril; but the explorers returned in 





BLOWING U? OF THE 



IN THE HARBOR OP TRIPOLI, SEPT. 4, 1804 



This vessel had been fitted up with combustibles, and, in charge of Captain Somers 
and a picked crew, was conducted into the harbor at night. None of the crew w^as saved. 
It is believed that the men, finding escape cut off, voluntarily sacrificed themselves with 
the ship. 

triumph after an absence of over two years. The expedition was 
an important one, its outcome was equally fortunate, and Con- 
gress hastened to make grants of land to the officers and men 
connected with it.^ 

120. Difficulties with Great Britain. — Before these happenings 
had reached a conclusion, however, there were rumblings of con- 

•* Lewis had desired to head such an exploring party as early as 1792 when 
he was nineteen years of age. Jefferson had then suggested it to the American 
Philosophical Society. 



DIFFICULTIES WITH GREAT BRITAIN 185 

flict, not with France^ but with Great Britain. British cap- 
tains on the high seas were again offensively active in the search 
and seizure of United States merchantmen, and in the impress- 
ment of sailors claimed as British subjects. 

This state of affairs had been brought about partly by the 
bitterness of the war between Great Britain and Napoleon, now 
Emperor of France. Each struck at the commerce of the other, 
Napoleon through the ports of Europe controlled by him, and 
Britain through her power on the seas. The 
United States was the only civihzed power not 
directly involved in the struggle. Her com- 
merce was that of a neutral, but her neutral 
rights were not respected by either of the 
European belligerents. 

Jefferson now proposed, and Congress 
passed, in April, 1806 an act prohibiting the 
Non-impor- importation of British goods into 
E^'m b ar'^go the United States, the operation of meriwether lewis 
Acts which was deferred until Decem- in the costume of the ex- 

ber, 1807, pending negotiations with the Brit- 00^ Va., S- i8,^T774^ 

. , , 1 • 1 1 i" i'l rT^^ • private secretary to 

IshgOVernment which proved lUtlle. 1 his was Thomas Jefferson, ISOl- 
„,, ,, , ii-iruj 1803;withCapt.Wm. Chirk, 

lollowed by an embargo act, which lorbade he set out to explore the 

, . , f i • ^ 1 111 northwest, in an expedition 

shipment of American goods to supply the extending over period of 

,.p-P^ J or ,1 i^^. 4.U 4. two years; was appointed 

markets 01 Europe. JenerSOn thought tnat Governor of Missouri ter- 
^, , 1 1. • 1 ' • .-I ritory, 1807. Died 1809. 

these measures would result m bringing the 
European nations to terms, but the effect in the United States 
on both commercial and agricultural interests was disastrous. 
The southern planters had now no foreign sale for their agri- 
cultural products, while the New England merchants were shut 
out of a trade which furnished them with their principal means 
of livelihood. 

Although the embargo was evaded to some extent, the act was 
in effect throughout 1808, and the opposition to it in New England 
grew so violent that a British agent, John Henry, was sent from 
Canada into the New England States to promote dissatisfaction 




186 ADMINISTRATIONS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 

and detach that section from the Union. ^ In New England the 
embargo was called the ''O Grab Me" act, a name derived from 
Opposition spelling ''embargo'^ backwards; and the opposition in 

in New Eng- . . . . . 

land that section grew into a disaffection that seriously men- 

aced the maintenance of the Union. The opponents of the embargo 
openly declared that Jefferson and the Democratic-Republican 
party were trying to provoke war with Great Britain. On the 
the other hand, Jefferson maintained that by thus striking at 
British trade he hoped to compel the British government to come 



• THE CLERMONT, DESIGNED BY ROBERT FULTON, 1807 

to terms without war. When a law was passed by Congress to 
promote the better execution of the embargo, it was called by 
Nullification Ncw England Federalists the "Force Act." Many State 
ag''a\'n*^an- officials either refused to obey this act or encouraged 
nounced -^^ evasiou. Town meetings denounced it and the legis- 
latures of Connecticut and Massachusetts laid down the doctrine 
of State interference or nullification. 

These ominous rumblings of discontent, echoed to some extent 
in the middle States, caused the reduced Democratic-Republican 
Embargo act majority to withdraw the more drastic embargo legis- 
repeaied latiou which had been passed in Congress earl}^ in 1809; 

hence it was provided that the embargo itself was to end on March 

5 On the other hand, the French minister at Washington was using argu- 
ment" to prolong the embargo as a blow to British trade. 



PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS OF ISOS 187 

4 of that year. In place of the embargo, a policy of non-inter- 
course with France and Great Britain was to be carried on until 
those countries showed evidence of respect for the rights of the 
United States as a neutral power. 

121. Presidential Elections of 1808. — In the midst of these 
foreign difficulties and the internal unrest, the Presidential elec- 
tion of 1808 took place. Jefferson, following the example of Wash- 
ington, declined to be a candidate for a third term, and the Demo- 
cratic-Republican candidates, James Madison of Virginia and 
George Clinton of New York, were elected over their Federalist 
opponents, C. C. Pinckney of South Carolina and Rufus King of 
New York. The Federalists regained their former power in 
New England and swept that section largely by using the same 
State rights argument against Federal encroachment that had 
been used by Jefferson and Madison when the latter opposed the 
Alien and Sedition laws. 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. One of Commodore Decatur's engagements against the Barbarj^ nations 
has been spoken of as "the biggest Uttle fight in history." This may be an 
exaggeration, but more extended a'ccounts of Decatur's exploits make inter- 
esting reading. 

2. Study the area involved under the terms of the Louisiana Purchase. 
How many of the present States and parts of States does it embrace? What is 
the largest city in this territory? Was any national notice taken of the cen- 
tennial of the purchase? 

3. Compare the Lewis and Clark expedition with that of George Rogers 
Clark in 1778-1779. Which led to the acquisition of the larger territory? 
(See map at end of volume.) What is the largest city in each? 

4. So little was known and so much. thought possible concerning the ex- 
treme northwest that the President gravely transmitted to Congress the report 
of "respected and enterprising traders" that 1,000 miles up the Missouri 
there was "a mountain of salt said to be 180 miles long and 45 in width." — 
McMaster: "History of the People of the United States," Vol. II. The his- 
torian Avery states ("History of the United States," Vol. II), that when 
Lewis and Clark set out, "the American consuls at Java, the Isles de France 
and Bourbon, and the Cape of Good Hope were instructed to render assistance 
should the expedition come their way." 



CHAPTER XVIII 

Administrations of James Madison, 1809-1817: War with 
Great Britain 

122. Foreign Relations at the Beginning of Madison's Admin= 
istration. — When Madison became President, there was a short- 
Uved improvement in British-American relations; but the ad- 
ministration was again forced to take up the 
obnoxious non-intercourse act with both Great 
Britain and France. Madison seemed even 
more anxious than Jefferson had been to avoid 
plunging the country into a war. But as 
events turned out, war with England or 
France became inevitable. Napoleon falsely- 
proclaimed that he intended to revoke his 
decree against neutral commerce. This decla- 
ration deceived Congress, and the non-inter- 
Bom Port Conway, va., courso act was suspcnded with respect to 
^wic % \^s ^deiegate'to Fraucc. Napoleou then issued an order seiz- 
cinlen'tLn ^TTTe-""^ 'S- ^^^S ^11 United States shipping wherever he 
gate to Continental Con- could rcach it. TMs act was a flagrant out- 

gress, 1/80-84; called the ^ 

"father of the [Federal! j-^gc, but the United Statcs govcmmcnt was 

Constitution on account *=* ' ^ 

of prominent part in fram- \^ ^q positloU to COmOcl reparation. 

ing that instrument in ^ r- i 

1787; first a Federalist Qu the othcr hand, Great Britain had also 

with Hamilton, later op- ' 

posed Hamilton and be- ]^qq^ actlug without regard to the neutral 

came allied with Jefferson " ^ 

in establishing the Demo- rights of the United Statcs, and that country 

cratic-Kepiiblican party; ^ ' ^ 

appointe>d Secretary of could bc rcachcd lu the proviucc of Canada, 

State, 1801; President 1809- ^ _ ' 

1817. Died June 28, 1836. ^t Icast, whcrc actual hostihtics were soon 
to begin. During 1811 the Indians had been actively hostile 
in the northwest. General Wilham H. Harrison was sent against 
Indian them and in November defeated them at Tippe- 

troubies canoe Creek in the Indiana Territory. It was 

widely believed that the British either had instigated the 
188 




DECLARATION OF WAR AGAINST GREAT BRITAIN 189 

Indians to attack the settlers or had aided them in preparing 
for war. This was apparently confirmed by a letter from General 
Harrison; who wrote that the Indians had been well supplied with 
the ''best British glazed powder" and recently imported firearms. 

123. Declaration of War against Great Britain, 1812. — A ''war 
party" of younger men had now arisen in the Democratic-Repub- 
lican ranks in Congress. The leader of these was Henry Clay, of 
Kentucky, who made impassioned appeals for aggressive measures 
r gainst the overbearing conduct of foreign nations. When, there- 
fore, Congress had heard Madison's message in June, 1812, re- 
viewing British conduct toward United States commerce. Congress 
declared for war by an overwhelming vote.^ 

Clay had extravagantly boasted that Kentucky militia alone 
could conquer Canada, but neither the war party nor the adminis- 
tration realized how poorly the country was prepared for Country iii. 

n- mi • -I n 1 prepared for 

conflict. The regular army consisted of but 7000 men, war 
and the navy was absurdly small as compared with the mighty 
naval force of Great Britain. Yet this small navy was destined to 
accomplish a great deal, while the army was to meet with many 
reverses before any pronounced success was achieved. 

First of all, a difficulty arose from the fact that the declara- 
tion of war had been carried by western and southern votes. 
New England and New York opposed it on the ground opposition 
that it was unnecessary and that it would bring ruin {hJ^no^tS 
upon the industries of the east. In the New England ^^^^ 
States opposition was so great that flags were placed at half mast, 
bells were tolled, and town meetings were called to denounce "Mr. 
Madison's war," as it was called. Moreover, the governors of 
several of the New England States were sustained by courts and 
councils in refusing to obey the Federal call for militia. 

1 Clay successfully opposed the sending of James Bayard of Delaware as 
an envoj^ extraordinary on a final mission of diplomacy. Had Bayard been 
sent, war might have been averted, as in the meantime, Great Britain, facing 
a tremendous European struggle, had revoked the Orders in Council and was 
sincerely desirous of peace with the United States. 



190 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MADISON 

124. Early Attempts upon Canada, 1812. — Added to this pro- 
nounced disaffection in one part of the country came early news 
Surrender of of miUtary rcvcrses. In August, General William Hull, 
Detroit after a fruitless advance into Canada, retreated to 

Detroit and, without firing a gun, surrendered his army to a supe- 
rior force of British and Indians. 

The next two attempts at the invasion of Canada met with 
failure. In one case General Van Rensselaer succeeded in crossing 
the Niagara River with a part of his army, but 
the rest of the militia refused to other Amer- 
march into foreign territory. His ^^^^ reverses 
force on the Canadian side was captured 
near Queenstown after a short engagement, 
in which Lieutenant-Colonel Winfield Scott 
won commendation for bravery. Gen- 
eral Brock, the British commander, fresh 
from the capture of Detroit, was mortally 
wounded. General Henry Dearborn, in com- 
mand of an army on Lake Champlain, was 
janTi779''^Mf(fshipman ^i^^ble to accompHsh anything because the 
y. s. N 1798; took brii- militia refused to press hostilities. In the 

Iiant part m Inpolitan war; •• 

ft'^S^riit the ''prZli'e'l't ^orthwcst General Winchester was defeated 
during the War of ^1812; ^yith the loss of his entire force of 900 men.^ 

again took part in action 

against Barbary States, |25. Naval Opefations. — Up^n the sea, 

I8I0; appointed naval com- r 1 7 

missioncT 1816. Killed in Amcricau succcss far exceeded expectations. 

duel with Commodore Bar- ^ 

roii> 1820. On the 19th of August the frigate Consti- 

tution, Captain Isaac Hull in command, defeated and destroyed 
Constitution the BHtish frigate Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia, 

vs. Guerriere, 

Aug. 19, 1821 The accurate and overwhelming fire of the Consti- 
tution, together with Hull's admirable management, rendered the 
Guerriere almost a total wreck in less than a half-hour of jQghting. 

2 This was at the Raisin River, The Indians massacred the captives, 
many of whom were Kentuckians, After that and up to the final fight at 
New Orleans, Kentucky troops went into battle with the cry: "Remember 
the River Raisin!" 




COMMODORE STEPHEN 
DECATUR 



MADISON RE-ELECTED 



191 



The Constitution was superior in men and metal but the British 
fought gallantly and yielded only when their vessel was found to 
be in a sinking condition. 

Hull delivered his prisoners at Boston and the command of the 
Constitution was turned over to Captain Bainbridge, who, off the 
coast of Brazil, defeated and destroyed the British Constitution 

vs. Java, 

frigate Java after a desperate engagement of two Dec. 29, 1812 
hours' duration. In the course of the battle Captain Bainbridge 
was twice wounded • but tjie American loss was small. The British 




COMMODORE OLIVER H. PERRY CHANGING FLAGSHIP IN THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE, 
SEPTEMBER 10, 1813 

vessel upheld the honor of the British navy and struck her colors 
only when riddled with shot and after a loss of 161 in killed and 
wounded, out of a crew of 426. The year 1812 also saw smaller 
engagements on the sea and the beginning of highly successful 
privateering against British commerce. 

126. Madison Re=elected, 1812. — The presidential elections 
of 1812 resulted in the re-election of Madison, with Elbridge Gerry 
as Vice-President. The Federalists and dissatisfied Re}:)ublicans 



192 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MADISON 

supported DeWitt Clinton of New York and Jared Ingersoll of 
Pennsylvania. 

127. Further Naval Operations, 1813. — The naval combats of 
1812 had been deeply humihating to the British, who had captured 
Chesapeake hundrcds of vcsscls lu the recent wars with France with 
June 1, 1813 a loss of fewcr ships than they had already lost to the 
half-dozen American sloops and frigates. In June, 1813, however, 
the British frigate Shannon defeated the Chesapeake, commanded 
by Captain James Lawrence. The engagement took place outside 
of Boston harbor. The Shannmi was well handled and its fire was 
accurate and terrible. In fifteen minutes the American frigate was 
riddled and helpless and her commander mortally wounded. 

With Lawrence's dying appeal, ''Don't give up the ship," as 
the motto. Captain Oliver H. Perry equipped a small fleet for 
the purpose of wresting from the British the control of Lake Erie. 
Battle of A naval engagement followed on September 10, which 

Lake Erie, m,. it iii- 

Sept. 10,1813 Perry s flagship, the Lawrence, began by drawing the 
fire of the two heaviest British ships until the Laivrence was shot 
to pieces and four-fifths of the crew killed or wounded; but Perry, 
carrying his flag with him, transferred himself in a small boat to 
the decks of the Niagara and at once brought his remaining ves- 
sels into close action, in which he finally defeated and captured 
the British fleet.^ 

128. Campaigns against British and Indians.— Perry wrote 
briefly to General Harrison, ''We have met the enemy and they 
are ours." Harrison was now enabled to advance upon the British 
Battle of the l^ud forccs and their Indian allies under General Proc- 
Thames ^^^ ^^^ ^^iq able chicftaiu, Tecumseh. Harrison met 
the British and Indians on the Thames River in Canada, October 
5, 1813. Tecumseh was killed in battle, his followers were scat- 
tered, and the British force was badly defeated. 

3 The Americans had nine vessels, the British six; but the crews, vessels, 
and guns, taken together, averaged about the same in fighting strength. The 
British commander, Barclay, was one of Nelson's veterans; Perry was com- 
paratively inexperienced. 



LAST CAMPAIGNS ON CANADIAN BORDER 



193 



In the south, Tecumseh had stirred up the Creek Indians in 
the Mississippi Territory. At Fort Mims, Ahibama, four hundred 
men, women, and children were attacked by the Indians and 
nearly all were captured and massacred. Other settlers Fort Mims 
and friendly Indians made war on the Creeks, while shoe Bend 
General Andrew Jackson, with a body of Tennessee militia, was 
sent against them. Jackson conducted the campaign with great 
energy and success, breaking the 
power of the southern Indians in a 
battle at Horseshoe Bend on the 
Tallapoosa River, March 27, 1814. 

129. Last Campaigns on the 
Canadian Border, 1814. — Fight- 
ing on the New York-Canadian 
border was carried on with vary- 
ing success. Raids were 
made and property was de- 
stroyed first by one side and 
then by the other. On one 
of these occasions, some sub- 
ordinate American officers 
were guilty of burning the 
public buildings of Toronto. 

In the summer of 1814, however, there were several sharp en- 
gagements resulting from a last attempt by the Americans to in- 
vade Canada. A bloody encounter occurred at Lundy's Lane, near 
Niagara Falls, in which the American commander, Gen- b a 1 1 1 e of 

^ ' . Lundy sLane 

eral Jacob Brown, was seriously wounded. This battle July 23, isu 
was, perhaps, the most stubbornly contested engagement of the war. 
The American loss was 743 men out of a force of 3000, while the Brit- 
ish lost 878 men out of a force somewhat larger. Although the 
British had been driven back at all points, the Americans were not 
able to hold their position and were forced to retire to Fort Erie.^ 

^ General Winfield Scott some weeks previously had defeated a British 
force at Chippewa, Canada. 
13 




NEW ORLEANS AND THE CREEK WAR 



194 



ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MADISON 



The United States were now in turn to be attacked from the 
north. The British selected the water route by Lake Champlain, 
and prepared to invade the States with a land force of 14,000 men 
under Sir George Prevost and a fleet of sixteen vessels on Lake 
Champlain under Commander Downie. The American land force of 




about 8000 men was intrenched 
at Plattsburg on the New York 
shore, while the naval squad- 
ron of fourteen vessels was un- 
der the command of Commo- 
M a c d o n - doiB Macdouough. 

ough's VIC- _, .- - , , , 

tory on Lake Botu land auQ uaval 

Champlain, • i i 

Sept. 11,1814 forces met m battle 
on the 11th of September. Macdonough, in the course of a two- 
hour conflict, got the better of his antagonist, captured some 
of the British fleet and dispersed the rest. This practically de- 
cided the result of the land engagement, and the British retreated 
into Canada. 



NORTHERN BATTLEFIELDS OF THE WAR OF 
1812-1815 



BRITISH INVASION OF MARYLAND 



195 



130. British Invasion of Maryland, 1814. — While this cam- 
paign was going on in northern New York, the British were land- 
ing an invading force on Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. F ° ^ ^.^ -^ 
At Bladensburg they defeated the militia gathered to toi burned 
and then advanced upon Washington.^ 



oppose 



their 



progress 



line's, m rctai 



^■^^ \ 







Here they burned public buildings and private dwf 
ation, it was claimed, for the destruc- 
tion by the Americans of public build- 
ings at Toronto. 

The British fleet and transports ad- 
vanced next upon Baltimore. At North 
Point they disembarked about 8000 
troops under General Ross. At the 
Repulse of same time, their warships 

the British n t^ 

at Baltimore, prepared to bombard Fort 

Sept. 12-14, ^ ^ 

1814 McHenry at the entrance to 

the harbor. A force of three thousand 
militia under General Samuel Smith 
was prepared to dispute the further 
progress of the British. The advance 
forces of both armies met unexpectedly 
on September 12, 1814, and General 
Ross was mortally wounded while rid- 
ing at the head of his troops. A sharp 
engagement followed in which for an 
hour about 1700 American militia with- 
stood the attack of 4000 British veter- 
ans until ordered to fall back upon the 
remaining reserve force, the British fol- 
lowing with caution. The American 
losses in killed, wounded, and captured 
were 213, while the British loss was 290. The assault upon Fort 
McHenry was begun on the 13th, and the bombardment was kept 

^ The British loss (500) in this battle was over five times greater than 
that of the Americans. 



DOROTHY PATXE MADISON, 

"Dolly" Madison, born North Car- 
olina, May 20, 1768. AlarriedJames 
Madison, fourth President of United 
States, at home of her sister, Mrs. 
George Steptoe Washington, Jeffer- 
son Co., Va. Like Abigail Adams, 
"Dolly" Madison has left us inter- 
esting letters on the times in which 
she lived and took an active part. 
When the British captured Wash- 
ington in 1S14, the wife of the Pres- 
ident writes from the other side of 
the Potomac: "Will you believe it, 
my sister? We have had a battle, 
or skirmish, near Bladensburg, and 
here I am still, within sound of the 
cannon! Mr. Madison comes not. 
Two messengers, covered with dust, 
come to bid me fly; but here I mean 
to wait for him." 



196 



ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MADISON 



up for 25 hours, during which a landing party of British was met 
and defeated. On the morning of the 14th, the sight of the Amer- 
The origin of icau flag, still waviug ''over the ramparts,'^ led Francis 
spang^/e^'d Scott Key to write the "Star Spangled Banner," the 
Banner" j-^^^ ^£ ^vhich Were jottcd down on the back of an en- 
velope while he was being held on board one of the British vessels. 
131. Results of the Battles on Lake Champlain and at Balti= 
more. — The stout resistance of tho Aniciican militia at North 




^.'4 







CAPTURE OF THE BRITISH FRIGATE MACEDONIAN 

Thirty-eight guns, Captain Garden, by the frigate United States, 44 guns, Commodore 
Decatur, after a sharp engagement of seventeen minutes' duration, Oct. 25, 1812. 

Point and the failure to capture Fort McHenry caused the British 
to give up further attempts to capture Baltimore. The 
news of the British reverses on Lake Champlaii! (Sep- 
tember 11) and at Baltimore (September 12-14) reached London in 
October and strongly influenced peace negotiations, which had al- 
ready been under consideration. Both countries were now desirous 
of terminating hostilities. Considerable financial distress was felt 
throughout the United States, w^hile British commerce suffered 
greatly from the operations of swift-sailing American privateers. 



Peace nego- 
tiations 



BRITISH INVASION OF LOUISIANA 197 

132. Alarming Disaffection in the New England States. — In 

New England, where there had been dissatisfaction with the war 
from the beginning, the discontent assumed a most alarming 
phase. In addition to open opposition to Federal laws, it was now 
proposed in Massachusetts that 10,000 State troops should be 
called out, and a convention of representatives from the New 
England States be held. Delegates from Massachu- The Hart- 

^ ^ ford Conven- 

setts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island met at Hartford tion 
in December. After holding secret sessions for three weeks, they 
recommended the meeting of another convention to decide on a 
more definite plan of action. What this action would have been, 
had the war continued, is of course problematical, although it 
was generally believed that secession was contemplated.^ 

During November and December, negotiations for peace were 
progressing in Europe, and a treaty was signed at Ghent on 
Christmas eve, 1814. The British had been sufficiently Treaty of 

' -^ Ghent, Dec. 

successful in (:he conduct of the war to feel warranted 24, isu 
in demanding a part of Maine, together wdth land concessions to 
their Indian allies in the northwest; but to these demands the 
American commissioners emphatically refused assent, and a peace 
was signed which left the status of things pretty much as it was 
before the war began. The British, however, tacitly gave up their 
alleged right of search and impressment. 

133. British Invasion of Louisiana. — There w^as no cable to 
flash the news of peace across the Atlantic, and the war was con 
tinned by the belligerents in America in ignorance of the result of 
the work of the commissioners at Ghent. Clay's boasted conquest 
of Canada had failed; but his Kentucky riflemen had a chance to 

^ If it be difficult for us to understand such an attitude at a most critical 
period, we must realize that the Union at that time was not as it is to-day. 
If the New England States felt aggrieved at what they honestly thought was 
the waging of an unnecessary war, which, together with the Democratic- 
Republican policies of non-importation and embargo, was apparently ruining 
them politically and economically, ideas of self-interest were more natural 
than a love for a government which seemed to them controlled by a party 
and a section politically opposed to them. 



108 



ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MADISON 



prove their mettle, when, late in 1814, the British attempted an 
invasion of the southwest. For this invasion, a force of 8000 to 
10,000 men, commanded by Sir Edward Pakenham, landed below 
New Orleans and prepared to march against the city. Andrew 
Jackson, with 6,000 "hunting shirt men" of the southwest, con- 
stituted the American defensive force; but what this force lacked 
in numbers was more than made up in the energy and ability of 
their commander and the coolnc--^ of the ni?>n. 




I 




TUE BATTLE OF XEW OHLEAXS 



On the morning of January 8. 1815, the British advanced to 
attack the Americans behind their entrenchments; but the Ten- 
Bat 1 1 e of nessee and Kentucky riflemen, four ranks deep, assisted 

New Orleans . . f ' , , - n 

Jan. 8, 1815 by the Louisiana militia, at first reserved their fire and 
then poured an accurate and deadly rain of bullets into the ranks 
of the enemy. Reinforcements marched up, but no troops, how- 
ever brave, could withstand the terrible fire of the western rifle- 
men, and the British were compelled to retreat to their ships, 
having, within twenty-five minutes, lost 2000 men, together with 



ADMISSION OF LOUISIANA 199 

their commander. The Americans lost but 71 in killed and 
wounded. No British army had suffered a worse defeat, although 
the attack on New Orleans had been led by many of the same 
troops that had beaten Napoleon's generals in Spain; moreover, 
those surviving this battle were destined to share in the victory over 
Napoleon at Waterloo in June of that same year. Not only Great 
Britain, but the nations of Europe were profoundly impressed 
by this most brilliant engagement. From that time the United 
States began to be regarded with respect as a world power; and 
although the peace that had already been signed did not itself 
definitely settle the points in question, the United States govern- 
ment virtually gained its contentions.'^ 

134. Admission of Louisiana. — Before completing the account 
of the War of 1812. it is necessary to revert to events involving 
territorial expansion in the years 1810-1813. 

When Jackson fought his campaign in the southwest in 1814- 
1815, he fought on or went through territory that had been in the 
possession of the Spaniards five years before. It was then known 
as West Florida. In 1810, however, inhabitants to the Formation of 

^ ' the State of 

east of New Orleans seized the fort at Baton Rouge, de- Louisiana 
clared their independence of Spain, and asked for annexation to 
the United States. President Madison did not officially recognize 
the revolution, but sent Governor Claiborne of the New Orleans 

' About two months after the treaty of peace and six weeks after the Battle 
of New Orleans, the Constitution fought perhaps the greatest battle of its 
career. After a long period of forced inactivity due to being blockaded by 
British fleets, she was again at large under the command of Captain Charles 
Stewart. On February 20, 1815, while cruising northeast of Madeira, she fell 
in ^-ith two British war vessels, the Cyane (34 guns) and the Levant (21 guns). 
In point of metal, the British ships were superior; but the Constitution (50 
guns) had the larger number of men (456 vs. 313). The Constitution, after 
a skilfully managed fight, captured both vessels, with a loss of only 4 killed 
and 10 wounded, while the British loss was 35 killed and 42 wounded. There 
were two other sea fights subsequent to this one. Of fifteen such ship-duels, 
the United States navy lost but three, a result that lent additional prestige to 
the western republic. 



200 



ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MADISON 



territory to occupy the region. A new State was eventually 
formed out of the New 'Orleans territory, and West Florida, as 
far as the Pearl River, was annexed to it. This State, named 
Louisiana, was admitted to the Union in April, 1812,^ 



•X 



Courtesy Trustees of Peabody Academy 

MODEL OF THE FRIGATE 




CONSTITUTION OR OLD IRONSIDES 



Launched Sept. 29, 1797; designed, at cost of $300,000, by Joshua Humphreys on original 
lines, adapted for speed and unusual weight of metal delivered in broadside. 

When the question of admitting the new State into the Union 
was under discussion in Congress, considerable opposition to its 
Opposition admission was manifested by New England Federalists 
to admission ^^ ^^le grouud that it was extra-constitutional to add 
States to the Union, out of what was foreign territory at the time 



8 More of West Florida, as far as the Perdido River, was declared a part 
of the IVIississippi Territory and possession taken in the name of the United 
States in 1813. 



TROUBLE WITH BARBARY NATIONS SETTLED 201 

of its formation. Josiah Quincy, a leader of that party, declared 
in Congress that: ''If this bill passes, it is my deliberate opinion 
that it is virtually a dissolution of this union, that it will free the 
States from their moral obligations; and as it will be the right of 
all, so it will be the duty of some, definitely to prepare for a sep- 
aration, amicably if they can, violently if they must."^ This 
question of southwest expansion was one of the grievances that 
led to the Hartford Convention, but opposition to it was less 
marked after the successful termmation of hostilities with Great 
Britain. 

135. Dissolution of the First United States Bank, 1811.— In 
1811, the United States bank, created at the suggestion of Hamil- 
ton, was dissolved. Gallatin, the Republican Secretary of the 
Treasury, earnestly desired its continuance, but his party dis- 
trusted its power. Even in Pennsylvania, where the Nullification 
bank had its headquarters, the State legislature con- pepTsyi" 
demned it, affirming in the language of the Kentucky ^'^^"^^ 
resolutions of 1797-1798 the right of a State to declare Congres- 
sional enactments null and void, a right that Pennsylvania threat- 
ened to exercise if the proposed extension of the charter was 
effected. 

136. Trouble with the Barbary Nations Settled, 1815. — Further 
trouble with the piratical government of Algiers was settled in 
1815, through a treaty forced from the ruler of that country by 
Commodore Decatur, who was sent to the Mediterranean in 
command of a strong squadron of United States war vessels fresh 
from their victories in the war with Great Britain. 

^ This expression, while it brought forth no direct action, in accordance 
with the doctrine thus declared, is important in that Josiah Quincy was pro- 
claiming the doctrine of the right of a State to secede from the Union. Half 
a century later, Charles Francis Adams, also from Massachusetts, and a 
distant kinsman of Quincy, was conscientiously fighting in the Federal armies 
to keep Louisiana from doing what Josiah Quincy announced was not only 
the right but the duty of a State to do under objectionable conditions, the 
continued toleration of which the State itself was to be the judge. 



202 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MADISON 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. It should be interesting and profitable to review some of the events in 
Europe from the beginning of the French Revolution (1791) to the final over- 
throw of Napoleon at Waterloo (1815). 

2. Why was the War of 1812 unpopular in New England? 

3. Select for more extended reading some engagement or event of the war. 

4. It is interesting to note the number of American boys who got an early 
training in naval warfare during the War of 1812. On one occasion two boys 
from behind a screen on the deck of a privateer beat a drum and stamped 
about to deceive an overpowering number of prisoners into thinking that the 
American commander had a full crew on board. While the boys were playing 
this role the captain sent his prisoners ashore almost under the guns of a 
British frigate off Nantucket Island. (McMaster: ''History of the People 
of the United States," Vol. IV.) There was no United States Naval Academy 
at Annapolis then, and boys who afterwards became noted American officers 
received their training on board ship at very early ages. Nathaniel Duncan 
Ingraham, afterwards hero of the Martin Koszta affair, and David G. Farragut, 
later admiral, saw service in this war. The former was under fire at the age 
of eleven. The latter was actually made prize-master of a captured whaler 
at the same age, while, on another occasion, his coolness and courage saved 
the Essex from capture by English prisoners then on board. (Maclay: "His- 
tory of the Navy," Vol. I.) 




CHAPTER XIX 

Administrations of James Monroe, 1817-1825: Period 
OF Growth 

137. James Monroe Elected President. — Madison, following 
the precedent established by Washington and Jefferson, retired 
to private life at the end of his second term. 
James Monroe, chosen as his successor in 
office, was elected by the overwhelming vote 
of 183 to 34 for his Federalist opponent, Rufus 
King, of New York. This election terminated 
the existence of the Federalist party in na- 
tional politics. The Democratic-Republican 
party, upon which Federalizing issues had at 
first been forced, now of its own initiative 
took up some of the policies of Hamilton. 

138. Centralizing Policies Adopted by the j^^'es ^onrce 

*=• r .' Born Westmoreland 

Democratic Party.— A new national bank was Co., va., Apr. 28, 1758 

•' Served in Continental 

created in 1816. This bank, Hke the one army during Revolution 

. — ' rising to rank as staff of- 

established by Hamilton and discontinued in ficer; wounded at Trenton; 

'' member Congress of Con- 

1811, was chartered for a period of twenty federation; v^•ith Patrick 

' ^ Henry, opposed central- 

years. Another Hamiltonian policy taken up izing features of Federal 

^ r- ./ A Constitution; elected L . S. 

by the Republican party was a tariff for pro- senator, 1790 ; minister to 

•^ ^ ^ -^ ^'^ France, 1794-1796; Gover- 

tection; and, coupled with this scheme, bills nor Virginia, 1799-1802; 

' ' *■ . commissioner to r ranee 

were passed through Congress appropriating (isos) with reference to 

*^ ^ . . , . Louisiana Purchase; mm- 

large sums of money for improving the navi- ister to Great Britain; 

° "^ ••11 Secretary of state and 

gation of rivers and for building roads and later of war under :Madi- 

J V ^*^^' succeeded Madison as 

canals, although these bills were vetoed by President, 1817-1825; pro- 

". *n 1 r u T claimed "Monroe Doc- 

President Madison. All three 01 these poll- trine" during second term. 
cies, originally opposed by the Democratic- 
Republican party, were, temporarily at least, advocated by it; but 
the continuance of them after the payment of the war debt and 
the establishment of American industries led to a sharp division 

203 



204 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MONROE 

of opinion, until opposition to the protective tariff finally became 
a leading principle of the Democratic party. 

We have seen how Federalists and Republicans changed their 
political views somewhat according to whether they were in or 
out of control of the governmental machinery, or according to the 
demands or fears of State or local interests. It is important to 
understand why, therefore, the Democratic-Republican party 
adopted a different policy at the period under discussion. This 
Need for change of view was due to the fact that the Federal 

Federal leg- 

isiation govcmment, after the war of 1812, required the same 

financial assistance which Hamilton had provided for after the 
war for independence. This recurrence of need seemed to require 
the application of the same remedy which had proved so successful 
after the Revolution. In the case of the harbor, canal, and road 
improvement bills, it was understood that these measures were 
proposed chiefly to placate commercial and trading interests. 

The embargo, the non-intercourse acts^ and the war itself 
had proved most effective in "protecting" American manufac- 
The protec- turcs, slucc it had almost wholly prevented competi- 
tive tariff ^-^^ from abroad. A large number of m.anufactures 
of all kinds had sprung up and the manufacturers importuned 
Congress for tariff legislation avowedly based on the principle of 
protection. This appeal came from the northern States where the 
manufactures were located, but the Republican Congressmen from 
the south felt that in the midst of their political success they could 
afford to be liberal in temporarily supportmg this governmental 
assistance, at least until the manufacturing interests were well 
established; a course which was also likely to gain for them new 
adherents, even though the policy proposed was at the expense of 
the agricultural communities they represented. 

John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, who later became the 
Early tariff most promiucut oppoueut of the protective tariff, was 
houn°^fnd in 1816 the leading supporter of the proposed import 
Webster dutics. Dauicl Wcbster of Massachusetts, who, with 
Henry Clay of Kentucky, subsequently advocated much higher 



NATIONAL GROWTH 205 

tariffs, was at this time opposed to the tariff as a measure Hkely 
to injure the shipping; interests of New England, which he hoped 
to see restored to their former vigor and pre-eminence. 

In a sense, therefore, the debate over the protective tariff of 
1816 represented a struggle in the northeastern States between the 
carrying trade and the manufacturing interests. The triumph of 
the latter was ultimately to result in largely driving the American 
flag off the trade routes of the world. It represented also a con- 
flict between the interests of the consumer and the interests of the 
manufacturer throughout the entire country; but, as manufactur- 
ing had not developed in the southern States, the question of tariffs 
became a fruitful cause of the sectional differences that finally 
produced fratricidal strife. From this time for half a century, or 
tj the close of the War of Secession, there could be no real rest in 
the conflict of sectional interests; viz., the agricultural Historical 

' ' " importance 

interests of the south and the steadily expanding manu- of the tariff 
facturing and commercial interests of the north. This conflict Hes 
at the foundation of other sectional differences, such as the con- 
tinual sectional struggle for the control of new territory as ''slave 
States" or ''free soil/' the nullification issue in South Carolina in 
1831, and secession thirty years later.^ 

139. National Growth. — In 1816 Indiana was admitted to the 
Union as the nineteenth State, an event closely followed by the 
admission of Mississippi the following year. Steamboats now began 
to appear on the Ohio, the Mississippi, and the Great Lakes. The 
Great National Pike was being constructed to connect the west with 
the east through Cumberland and Wheeling. Other roads were also 
projected, as in Georgia. In New York Governor DeWitt Clinton 
was pushing forward the construction of the Erie Canal ("Clinton's 
Big Ditch") from the Hudson River to Lake Erie, a distance of 360 
miles. Soon it was considered wonderful that, by using relays of 

iThe student should carefully bear in nriind that the protective tariff 
question is no longer, in the former sense, a sectional issue. After the abolition 
of slavery, manufacturing began in the south, and the differentiation of inter- 
ests ceased to be so markedly sectional. 



200 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MONROE 

horses moving at a trot, light packet boats could carry passengers 
across the State in three and a half days. Travel by stage coach 
was improving, and a trip from Boston to Charleston could, under 
favorable conditions, be made in less than two weeks. 

Post-offices had increased from a few score to several hundred; 
but postage was still very expensive, and varied according to 
distance. Stamps were not used, and letters were secured with 
sealing wax. Highwaymen were likely to "hold up" the mail on 
almost any of the routes. 

At this time, or from 1816 to 1820, there was comparatively 
little political excitement disturbing the country. The Federalist 
party had almost passed out of existence and there was no organ- 




OF ANDREW JACKSON 



ized opposition to the party in power, although minor differences 
arose within its own ranks. The decrease in political agitation 
and the increase in internal trade and commerce induced reckless 
speculation. The new United States Bank was badly managed 
Heavy spec- from 1816 to 1818, and it was possible, under the lax 

ulation fol- r 1 • n 1 c n ^ ^ 

lowed by laws of thosc timcs, for a great number ot State banks 

"hard times i • i ... 

in 1819 to be chartered with permission to issue more notes than 

they could redeem in coin or legal tender. Farsighted men saw 
the inevitable result, but could not prevent it; hence, in 1819, an 
era of "good times" ended with general distress and suffering.- 

~ Massachusetts did not suffer so severely, since that State was one of 
the first wisely to control State banking interests. 



PURCHASE OF FLORIDA 



207 




140. The Seminole War, 1818. — During Monroe's first term, 
a dangerous complication arose with Spain, due to the fact that 
constant incursions were being made into the southern States from 
her territory in Florida. These incursions were carried on by the 
Seminole Indians, aided, in some instances, by runaway slaves; 
but the marauders were protected in Spanish / - "" 
territory, and, it was believed, encouraged or 

aided by Spanish settlers. 

In 1818 the United States government sent _ > 

General Andrew Jackson to the southern 1 

Jackson's in- bouudary to maintain order^ Jack- 
Span\sh° Flo- SOU, howcver, was not content with 
"^^ any course short of an invasion of 

Florida and the complete subjugation of the 
Indian trouble-makers. He therefore marched 
his troops into Spanish territory, and after 
the Indians had eluded him for a time in the 
southern swamps, seized the Spanish towns of 
St. Marks and Pensacola and ejected their 
Spanish garrisons. Further than this, in dis- 
regard of the principles of international law, 
he executed two British subjects for alleged 
participation in the Indian war. Jackson 
finally subdued the Seminoles, but in his 
high-handed actions wdth the Spanish and in 
the execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister, 
he placed the United States in an embarrassing position. 

141. Purchase of Florida. — Jackson declared that the United 
States government had led him to believe that his seizure of 
Florida would be favorably regarded. The government officials 
denied any such implication; but the majority of the Representa- 
tives in Congress were either afraid or reluctant to rebuke the 
powerful and popular ''hero of New Orleans," and the government 
had to deal with Great Britain and Spain as best it could. Al- 
though the United States was prepared to make restitution to 



HEXRY CLAY 

Born Hanover Co., Va., 
Apr. 12, 1777. Studied 
law and moved to Lexing- 
ton, Ky.; elected to Con- 
gress in 1811, he soon be- 
came Speaker of House 
and warmly supported war 
with Great Britain; served 
many years in United 
States Senate, where, on 
sectional issues, he became 
known as the "great com- 
promiser;" was, like Web- 
ster, unsuccessfiU in his 
Preside ntal aspirations; 
supported protective tar- 
iff and favored interna! 
improvements through 
Federal appropriations. 
Died 1852. 



208 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MONROE 

Spain, the Spanish government felt that it could never feel secure 
in the possession of the Florida territory. In 1821, therefore, a 
treaty was consummated by the terms of which Spain agreed to 
sell Florida to the United States for $5,000,000.3 

142. Partial Settlement of Canadian Boundary Line, 1818. — In 
1818 a treaty with Great Britain provided for the settlement of the 
northwestern boundary of the United States. The dividing Hne was 
to be the 49th parallel from the Lake of the Woods on the northern 
boundary of Minnesota to the Rocky Mountains. The line west of 
the mountains was to be decided later, as both countries claimed the 
Oregon territory. It was provided, therefore, that settlers of both 
nations might occupy the disputed territory for a period of ten years. 

143. Slavery Becomes a Sectional and Political Issue. — For- 
eign complications with Spain and Great Britain were thus settled 
amicably, but in 1820 there broke out domestic discord and 
sectional animosities, which Thomas Jefferson said sounded as 
dreadful as "a firebell in the night." We have seen how the 
northern and the southern States had become different as to 
pursuits, customs, and habits of living. The chief cause of this 
differentiation was slavery; moreover, these differences became 
more marked as the North developed its manufacturing and com- 
mercial interests and as the raising of cotton became the chief 
industry of the South. Opposing political and economic interests 
were now to be drawn on sectional lines as they never had been 
drawn before. In 1817 there were twenty States in the Federal 
Union, ten of which were north of Mason and Dixon's Line, where 
the manufacturing and trade interests were dominant. Here 
slave labor had almost disappeared, a fact that encouraged immi- 
gration and commercial development. The remaining ten States 
were south of the line and given over almost wholly to agricultural 

3 This agreement settled United States spoliation claims against Spain. 
The treaty also set the boundaries of Spanish-American western claims along 
the lines of the Sabine, the Red, and the Arkansas rivers, and northwestward 
to the 42d parallel of latitude. Above that parallel, Spain gave up all claim 
to the Oregon territory, while the United States gave up its claim to Texas. 



SECTIONAL STRUGGLE FOR NE^Y TERRITORY 209 

pursuits, maintained largely by negro slave labor. On account of 
this divergence of sectional interests, and because of sectional 
demands arising therefrom for free trade on one side and pro- 
tective tariffs on the other, a struggle for the control of new ter- 
ritory arose that resembled the rivalry and mutual The "Bai- 

"^ ^ a n c e o f 

jealousies of nations. Henceforth, new States must Power" 
come into the Union in pairs, one to be admitted on one economic 
basis, the other on a footing of opposing interests. This sectional 
balancing was first clearly recognized in the admission of Indiana 
and Mississippi, and the policy was extended when Illinois was 
admitted into the Union in 1818 and Alabama in 1819. 

144. Beginning of the Sectional Struggle for New Territory. — 
In February, 1819, however, the question came up as to the 
standing of the States formed out of the Louisiana purchase; for 
Missouri was knocking for admission into the Union as a The fight for 
slave labor State. A fight was at once begun for political ^^^^^°"" 
control of Missouri and the whole of the Louisiana purchase. 
The North sought to increase its power by means of a new free 
State and the South insisted that Missouri be admitted into the 
Union in the w^ay it desired admission, as a slave State. In the 
meantime, however, Maine had secured the permission of Massa- 
chusetts to separate from the latter State. She was seeking ad- 
mission into the Union as a free State. 

Both sides finally agreed to a compromise. Missouri and 
Maine were to be paired to preserve the balance of power, but 
slave labor was to be prohibited in the rest of the TheAi 
Louisia'na territory north of the parallel 3G° 30', the i82o 
southern boundary of Missouri. No provision was made for the 
future of the territory south of that line. In order to acquire 
new territory in the name of the United States, the Si, nth and the 
West united against the North and the East, and in every instance 
the former succeeded. This success led naturally to a powerful 
southern and western domination of the Federal government for 
the first half of the nineteenth century. The southern part of this 
dominating political influence was weakened when and wherever it 
14 



issoun 
compromise, 



210 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MONROE 

involved the question of slavery and its extension. When, therefore^ 
the South sought equal rights for its citizens in the territorial ac- 
quisitions, the North secured the better of the Missouri compromise 
and all others. The slaveholder was steadily losing ground, for he 
was supporting a constantly losing economic issue. Before sec- 
tional controversy had arisen, the slaveholder voluntarily excluded 
himself from the northwest territory by the Ordinance of 1787. 
He was excluded by nature in the northern States, and in the 
Missouri compromise he agreed to exclude himself from the greater 
portion of the Louisiana purchase, while the rest was left in doubt. 

But the difficulty was not yet fully adjusted; for, at that time, 
in the west and northwest, there was a strong prejudice against 
Status of the "the free negro. ^ Consequently, when Missouri applied 
th? S^oJ'th'^ for admission in 1821, it was found that a clause of its 
^®^* constitution prohibited the immigration of free negroes 

into the State. As the free negroes had in some States become citi- 
zens of those States, they were, by the United States Constitution, 
'^ entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens" in every 
State. Weeks of angry debate ensued and there was talk in Con- 
gress of war or disunion. Henry Clay, however, was instrumental 
in persuading Missouri practically to give up its objectionable 
clause, and Missouri entered the Union as the twenty-fourth State. 

145. Sectional Controversy, — It is important to bear in mind: 
(1) that slavery was a prime cause of the persistence of differences in 
industries between the North and the South, and that it also offered 
an ever-present theme for increasing sectional animosities through 
the denunciation of the South by a group of radical reformers and 
agitators in the North, provoking heated recriminations on the part 
of those thus attacked in the South; (2) that these differences in 
pursuits, interests, and sentiments gave rise to extended political 
and economic discussions; (3) that the alleged unequal settlement 
of the issues in dispute constituted the chief ground for secession in 
the South in 1860-1861 ; and (4) that the question of secession led 

^ As late as February 12, 1853, Illinois enacted legislation making it a 
ci ime for a free negro to come, or be brought, into the State. 



SECTIONAL CONTROVERSY 



21i 



directly to the clash of arms in 1861 in a war waged to bring back 
into the Federal Union the States that had withdrawn from it. 

Farsighted representatives in either section saw the probability 
of armed conflict. The South, however, had the greater reason to 
fear sectional agitation that tended to make the social status of 
slavery the basis of political action. Especially was this true as 
long as the interests of the South were bound up in agriculture 
and slave labor. Moreover, the presence of negro slaves repelled 




'"m^-m.- 



The first steamboat to cross the Alantic (1819). This vessel crossed the ocean from 
Savannah to Liverpool in 27 days propelled by steam and sail. A quarter of a century 
passed, however, before ocean-going steamers were considered practicable for freight or 
passengers. 

immigration, and the natural increase in population could not 
keep pace with the double increase in the North. The South was, 
therefore, sure to lose numerical control of the House The South in 
of Representatives, where northern majorities could iltiS°ftrSgI 
enact such tariffs and subsidiary legislation as it pleased. ^^"^ 
She could hope only to maintain an even balance in the Senate; 
yet, as time went on, southern statesmen foresaw that she could 
not expect to hold as much as that, since the South could not 
command territory for new States sufficient to offset the free 
States that Avere sure to come in from the rapidly developing 



212 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MONROE 

northwest. For the South, such a balance was difficult and 
dangerous to maintain but politically fatal to lose. 

The moral question involved in the extension of slavery was 

by no means predominant. The conflict was fundamentally a 

political and economic one, althouoh there were many 

Slavery a f , . '^ 

political is- in both sections who argued agamst the contmuance oi 
slavery on moral grounds. Nevertheless, Thomas Jef- 
ferson, the greatest of the early advocates of the abolition of 
slavery, was later in favor of its territorial extension on the ground 
that by scattering the slave population it would become easier 
ultimately to abolish slaverj^ altogether. He clearly foresaw that 
the moral side of the question would be perverted by politicians 
for selfish purposes or for party advantage.^ 

146. Re=election of James Monroe, 1820.^ — In 1820 there was 
no opposition to Monroe as the presidential candidate of the 
Democratic-Republican party. One elector, however, voted for 
John Quincy Adams, solely to prevent a unanimous vote, an honor 
he wished Washington alone to have. 

147. Proclamation of the Monroe Doctrine. — During President 
Monroe's second term, it became apparent that the continental 
governments of Europe were seriously considering a plan to help 
Spain recover such South American countries as had declared their 
independence and whose independence the United States govern- 
ment had already recognized. Another menace to American peace 
and to the influence of the United States was the expansion of Rus- 
sia on the western coast. Already that power had possessed herself 
of Alaska, and she was preparing to claim the Oregon country. 

These designs on the part of European monarchies led to the 
proclamation by President Monroe of certain principles laid down 
in a message to Congress in 1823, the gist of which is: That any 
attempt by European governments to conquer or interfere with 
any independent American government would not be regarded 

^ In 1835 a distinguished French traveler and historian, De Tocqiieville, 
wrote that the struggle for political power between North and South was 
more like that of "hostile nations, than of rival parties, under one government." 



VISIT OF LAFAYETTE 213 

with favor by the United States; and that the American conti- 
nents were not open to further colonization by European powers.® 

148. Division in the Democratic=Republican Party. — Tariff 
discussions were again given prominence in Congress during 
Monroe's second term; and these questions, together with the 
further agitation of the pohcy of internal improvements, were 
destined to split the Democratic-Republican party. In the matter 
of the tariff, all who were interested in manufacturing brought 
continuous and powerful pressure to bear upon Congressmen to 
make the protective tariffs of 1816 still higher and to extend them 
to other industries, such as hemp-growing in Kentucky, wool- 
raising in Ohio, and lead-mining in Missouri. By reason of a 
union of these interests under the leadership of Henry Clay, the 
tariff-for-revenue advocates were again defeated in Congress, and 
the protective principle was further extended. The tariff had now 
become more clearly than ever a sectional issue, for the The Protec- 
people of the southern agricultural States received no and sectioiju 
better prices for their crops than before, while it greatly ^^^^^^^^ 
increased the cost of nearly all they bought. Consequently the 
southern States were solidly opposed to a tariff for protection. 
Some of the Representatives in Congress from Massachusetts, 
New Hampshire, and Maine at first opposed the bills on account 
of their injurious effects on American shipping interests, but the 
attitude of these States was soon to change under the influence 
of the increase in manufacturing. 

149. Visit of Lafayette. — The close of Monroe's administration 
was marked by the joyous welcome accorded Lafayette on the 

^ John Quincy Adams, as Secretary of State, aided in formulating the 
Monroe Doctrine. In 1913 President Wilson indicated an extension of the 
principles of the Monroe Doctrine at a meeting of the Southern Commercial 
Congress at Mobile. In his address delivered upon that occasion, President 
Wilson declared that the United States was interested not only in maintainini.'; 
the territorial but the economic independence and integrity of the South 
American countries. This declaration is based upon the fact that bj^ gaining 
control of the resources of the Latin-American republics, foreign nations would 
be able to direct their politics and government. 



214 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JAMES MONROE 

occasion of his visiting the repubhc which he had so ably aided in 
its struggle for independence nearly half a century before. He 
visited the tomb of Washington at Mount Vernon, where later 
was placed the key of the Bastile, the famous state prison of 
France, destroyed at the beginning of the French Revolution. 
Congress voted him $200,000 and a township of land. 

150. Presidential Elections of 1824.— In 1820 there had been 
but one candidate put forward for the Presidency. In 1824 there 
were four, all of whom professed to belong to the same party and 
to stand for the same general principles. These candidates were: 
John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, William H. Crawford of 
Georgia, Henry Clay of Kentucky, and Andrew Jackson of Tennes- 
see. Jackson received 99 electoral votes, Adams 84, Crawford 41, 
and Clay 37. As the Constitution required a majority of the votes 
cast for election, the choice between the three securing the largest 
vote was thrown into the House of Representatives. Here Clay ex- 
erted his influence in favor of Adams, who was, therefore, elected.^ 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Try to understand the principles of the tariff discussion presented in 
Sec. 138. 

2. Review Sees. 143, 144, and 145 very carefully. With different economic 
and political interests, it was natural for the sections to oppose each other. 
It is unnatural and untrue, however, to represent either section as having 
been wholly wrong or wholly right. 

3. In connection with Sec. 145, some special mention should be made of 
the work of the American Colonization Society, which was founded early in 
the nineteenth century for the purpose of transporting freed negroes to their 
former home, the continent of Africa. This movement led to the founding 
of the Republic of Liberia on the w^est coast of Africa. Here it was intended 
that the negro should learn self-government without control by or hindrance 
from the white race, which was forbidden participation in or franchise privileges 
under the Liberian government. The form of government was modeled after 
that of the United States. Try to find out m.ore about this interesting effort 
by philanthropical Americans to colonize and civilize what was then known 
as "Darkest Africa." How did the plan succeed? Cf. "Sidelights and Sug- 
gestions" at end of Chapter XXII. 

^ John C. Calhoun of South Carolina received a majority of votes for 
Vice-President, and was accordingly elected to that office. 



CHAPTER XX 

Administration of John Quincy Adams, 1825-1829: Division 
IN THE Democratic-Republican Party 

151. Political Dissensions. — John Quincy Adams was, like 
his father, unfortunate in having, as President, to face a time of 
political unrest and reorganization. One of his first appointments 
was that of Henry Clay as Secretary of State. As it was due to 
Clay's influence in Congress that Adams was elected, the followers 
of Jackson raised a loud cry of ''bargain and corruption," a cry 
that had no foundation in fact, but which greatly influenced the 
opinions of thousands of people, and of General Jackson above all 
others. It was natural for Adams to select Clay for what was 
regarded as the most important office in the President's Cabinet, 
because Clay was most in accord with the views of the President; 
but bitter party controversy arose, which served greatly to in- 
crease the differences between the supporters of President Adams 
and those of General Jackson. 

In both men there were great virtues and also notable weak- 
nesses. President Adams had rendered valuable service to the 
country, especiallj^ in connection with its foreign affairs. In his 
relations with his countrymen, however, he was unfortunate; 
and, in the public mind, his good qualities and force of character 
were obscured by his coldness of manner and disposition, which, 
his opponents declared, indicated a lack of sympathy with the 
masses of the people. This accusation was probably unjust; he 
was, however, quite out of touch with the democracy Adams vs. 
of the "New West," which was then reacting on the •^''''^'^'' 
east and calling for universal manhood suffrage. He was in- 
clined to the old Federahst view in opposition to such a spirit. 
Jackson, on the other hand, was contrasted with the President as 

215 




216 ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 

a man straight from the ranks of the people, who had made his 
own way in life without the advantages of inherited position. 
This contrast was cleverly exploited by Jackson's campaign 
managers, and it greatly increased the natural popularity of the 
hero of British and Indian wars. The people admired the uncom- 
promising fighting spirit of the man, and they felt that Congress 
had wronged him and them in setting aside 
his popular plurality in favor of another can- 
didate. 

152. Death of John Adams and Thomas 
Jefferson. — During the Presidency of John 
Quincy Adams, on the fiftieth anniversary of 
Independence Day, July 4, 1826, the country 
mourned the death of two of the most distin- 
guished founders of the republic, John Adams 
and Thomas Jefferson. It was an impressive 
JOHN QiTiNCY ADAMS coincideuce. Adams had lived to almost a full 

Born Braintree, Mass., i t i ji rj_ 

July 11, 1767. Educated ccutury, or 91 ycars, and died the year alter 

abroad and at Harvard; ,,, ,. ^ i ^ -nt • i i t iic 

minister to Holland, 1794; hc had sccu his SOU clcctcd rresiclent; Jerier- 

elected to United States , , , . r \ • i j.i 

Senate, 1802; supported SOU was 83 ycars old at the time 01 ms deatn, 

measures aimed at Great iii ,^ . f,i ut ^ t^ 

Britain prior to war of and had secu the rise 01 the Jackson De- 

1812; minister to Russia, ,» i i i i i • ip i ^ 

1809, and Great Britain, mocracy, led by a man he himself cleemecl 

1815; United States com- ... , ,i i , • , , ii c j^i 

missioner at Treaty of daUgCrOUS tO the bCSt lUtcrCStS OI the COUU- 

Ghent; played important . i i j.i Ji_ j. 

part as Secretary of State try; but WhOSC SUCCCSS WaS partly tlie OUt- 
under Monroe; succeeded n ,i r ri' • j^i • r iic 

latter as President, 1825- comc 01 the Jeiiersoman thcoHcs oi suiirage 

1829; elected .to Congress , . ai.i i i-i^i ij. 

on Anti-Masonic ticket in extcnsiou. Although oucc bitterly opposed to 

1831, but was continued in i ,i ^ ,^ ^• ^ pi n 

House until his death; op- cach otiicr, both men died alter many years oi 

pcsed "gag rule" and up- ,. , » . i i • 

held right of petition in cordial irieudship. 

ongress. lec ^ ^^ Difficultics witH the Cfcek Indians iH 

Georgia. — An incident of importance during the administration 
of John Quincy Adams was the dispute between the Federal gov- 
ernment and the State of Georgia, with regard to the Creek Indian 
lands in that State. 

In 1825 Federal commissioners arranged with the Creeks a 
treaty by the terms of which the tribe was to give up its lands in 



THE " TARIFF OF ABOMINATIONS " 217 

Georgia to that State in return for Federal land beyond the Mis- 
sissippi. Some of the Indian chiefs refused to abide by the treaty, 
in the signing of which they claimed they had not been represented. 
The Federal government was inclined to uphold the claims of 
these Indians, and in 1826 made a new treaty which Georgia de- 
assigned to them some of the lands they claimed in erai^gov^m- 
Georgia. The State government of Georgia refused to ™^^^ 
acknowledge the second treaty and ordered a survey to be made 
for the general distribution of the Creek lands. When the Federal 
administration threatened to arrest or drive off the surveyors, 
Governor Troup replied that the State would resist by force of 
arms. Neither Congress nor the Administration seemed willing 
to take measures to enforce the decision of the Supreme Court, 
and Georgia was able to secure a third treaty, which eventually 
transferred the Creeks beyond the Mississippi. 

154. The " Tariff of Abominations."— On the eve of the pres- 
idential elections of 1828 Congress passed a bill increasing import 
duties. This bill was so extreme in its provisions and so savored 
of partisan politics that it became known as the ''tariff of abomi- 
nations." New England was now ready to uphold the principles 
of protection, chiefly because of the decline of the shipping in- 
terests and a corresponding increase of manufacturing. Some of 
the Jackson Democrats from the west also supported this bill 
in an effort to embarrass Clay and Adams and to secure political 
advantage for themselves. 

The southern States, already arrayed in opposition to the 
previous protective tariffs, were now inclined to resist by force, if 
necessary, a system of taxation, the burden of which Southern op- 

'^ ' ^ ' position to 

fell chiefly upon them and from which they derived the tariff 
little or no benefit. State legislatures, public meetings, and com- 
mercial bodies declared the protective tariff unconstitutional. 
There was talk of nullification, secession, and even war. In South 
Carolina the opposition was most intense, and Calhoun, who had 
proposed the first protective tariff of 1816, was now forced to 
come forward as the leader against its extension. 



218 ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 

!55. Andrew Jackson Elected President, 1828. — In the mean- 
time, however, a national election was held, and as Jackson and 
Calhoun were elected over Adams and Richard Rush of Pennsyl- 
vania, the more conservative southern leaders were able to post- 
pone decisive measures in opposition to the Federal government, 
and to persuade the people to await the action of Jackson and a 
new Congress in the following year.^ In this election the sup- 
New party porters of Adams and Rush called themselves National 
names Republicaus, most of whom joined the Whig party in 

1836. The followers of Jackson began to be called Democrats, 
the successors of the Democratic-Republican party founded by 

Jefferson. A short-lived party (1828- 

/ Tl {yl/ 0L7yit> 1836)? tliat also largely joined with the 

• ' Whig organization in 1836, was that of 

SIGNATURE JOHN ADAMS IN 1S14 ^^^ Auti-Masous. The members of this 

party were opposed to all secret societies; but they were especially 

hostile to public men 

who belonged to the /^ L z? o S; J f 7 

order of Masons. It / FLQAXJ^ 7\ O^CCQ/m^f 

succeeded in spht- ( 

ting the dominant ^^*-^^ 

political parties in signature charles francis adams, 2d, 1914 

New York State, but achieved no great success in opposition to 
the immense popularity of General Jackson. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. John Adams and John Quincy Adams represent the only instance in 
United States history where father and son achieved the distinction of election 
to the Presidency. Four generations of the Adams family attained to eminence 
in the service of the United States government: John Adams, 1735-1826; 
John Quincy Adams, 1767-1848; Charles Francis Adams, 1807-1886; Charles 
Francis Adams, 2nd, 1835- . During thq War of Secession, the first 
Charles Francis Adams distinguished himself by his ability as a diplomat at 

iThe electoral vote resulted: Jackson and Calhoun, 178; Adams and 
Rush, 83. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 219 

the Court of St. James; his son, Charles Francis Adams, 2nd, achieved dis- 
tinction as a colonel in the Union army. At the close of the War of Secession 
he was brevetted brigadier-general, living thereafter to become an impartial 
historian of the events in which he himself took a prominent part. 

2. One other family, that of the Harrisons of Virginia, has produced two 
Presidents of the United States: William Henry Harrison, 1773-1841; and 
his grandson, Benjamin Harrison, 1833-1901, who was born in Ohio. 

3. It was during John Q. Adams's administration that gas was introduced 
more generally to replace lamps and the candles then so widely in use. Gas 
had been brought before the attention of the city council at Philadelphia as 
early as 1816. In that city, however, there was, on the part of the cancHe 
makers, so much opposition to the new form of artificial light that Boston, 
New York, and Baltimore preceded Philadelphia in the use of the new light. 
At about this time anthracite coal came into general use. 

4. Besides the defiance of the Supreme Court by Georgia in the case of 
the Creek Indian lands, there were two other instances of practical State 
nullification during the administration of J. Q. Adams. Martin Van Buren, 
Senator from New York and afterwards President of the United States, 
declared that Federal tonnage duties imposed upon New York canals would 
be resisted to the last extremity by that State. South Carolina defied the 
United States Courts by continuing to prohibit the landing of free negroes 
employed by United States and foreign vessels entering Charleston harbor. 



CHAPTER XXI 

Administrations of Andrew Jackson, 1829-1837: The Spoils 
System — Nullification Issues Brought Forward in 
Several States 

156. Political Changes. — The election of Jackson in 1828 
marked a political revolution as had the election of Jefferson in 
1800. The triumph of Jackson likewise introduced a greater degree 
of democracy in government, but with the new democracy came 
partisan administration and decreased efficiency in public service. 

These changes arose directly from the fact that President 
Jackson beheved not only in his own honesty, but also in the 
Personal integrity of all who supported him. On the other 

friendship , , i . , . i 

o r dislikes hand, he thought his opponents were not only mistaken 

influence 

political poii- but that they were actuated by base and semsh motives. 

cies of Jack- . , . i i -r» • i 

son This extreme partisanship caused the President, there- 

fore, to rely largely on the counsel of his personal friends. These 
friends were the men who had worked hardest for him, and who 
had helped him to secure political success by whatever methods 
they could devise, some of which were at least doubtful, if not 
vicious. Jackson, however, saw nothing but good in these close 
friends, who formed what was called his ''kitchen cabinet." Under 
this system of political favoritism, private and personal considera- 
tions became magnified into affairs of national prominence and 
seriously affected the fortunes of political leaders and the fate of 
party policies.^ 

One of the policies that appealed strongly to the mind of 
Jackson was the rewarding of his friends and the punishment of 
his opponents, a policy heartily encouraged by his campaign 

^ Only one member of Jackson's official cabinet was admitted into this 
private council and that one was his Secretary of War, John W. Eaton. One 
of his closest political advisers was Martin Van Buren. 
220 



FINAL CLOSING OF UNITED STATES BANK 221 

managers, who chiefly profited by it. Consequently, Jackson 
began a general removal from office of those who had not been 
actively in sympathy with him, and he put in place of Estabiish- 
them his own political partisans. This was the begin- ^ISiiis^ Syt 
ning of the '' Spoils System," which was to have a prom- ^^^" 
inent share in the corruption of politics until curtailed by the 
institution of civil service reform. Up to this time the beginning 
of a new administration had not been marked 
by any general removal qf minor officials. If 
the officials were considered qualified for their 
positions, they wxre continued. Now, how- 
ever, all this was changed, and the removals 
under Jackson were fifty times as many as 
were those under all his predecessors in office; 
moreover, his adherents and supporters were 
given positions frequently without any inves- 
tigation into their qualifications or fitness for 
the places to which they were appointed.^ Bom'' wlx'^w^ settie- 

157. Final Closing of the United States T™ ^Nonh^lnd^'souS 
Bank.— One of President Jackson's earliest stuJJiT' law" and: Sir 
acts in his second term of office was to take reTe%ZTre^Tsen\£^^^^ 
measures leading to the final closing of the leated'^cSTndiansasu; 
United States Bank. During the previous rsTo^^ru^hed'^SnSfe 
campaign for the Presidency, Clay had in- /d°e1;rrA'Ls|8'tnd^'^1J; 
sisted upon making with Jackson a special S^^'opposed" nuilificl! 
issue in favor of the renewal of the charter of oiina?^wM;f ifpto m S g 
the bank, although the Whig leader had been Georgia _indian claim 




offered a compromise that was satisfactory to """"'" Court; with web- 



against United States Su- 
preme Court; with Web- 
ster, an upbuilder of Fed- 

the bank and to Jackson. Clay refused the "'^^ p'"""'^^"- ^^"^ ^^^^• 
compromise, Jackson defeated him in the elections, and as Presi- 

- It has been affirmed that John Adams suggested the use of government 
positions for purposes of party patronage when he filled the Federal judiciary 
with his appointments just prior to the inauguration of Jefferson; after which, 
on the other hand, the latter was accused of doing the same thing in his attempt 
to unseat the Federalists Adams had thus appointed. 



* ..^ 



222 ADMINISTRATIONS OF ANDREW JACKSON 

dent promptly ordered that the government funds should be placed 
in State banks. Consequently, the United States Bank, not having 
the support of the Government, closed its doors. 

158. Nullification Issues under Jackson. — During the Presi- 
dency of Andrew Jackson there arose three separate issues of 
nullification or opposition to the Federal government, brought up 
by four different States. In the first instance, 
Georgia successfully defied the Federal judici- 
ary; in the second, Maine and Massachusetts 
1^ }f|\ ', refused to accept an international arbitration 

j^^^ agreement entered into by the Federal govern- 
^^ ', ment, forcing, by their threats of nullifica- 
. MBL. tion, the Senate of the United States to reject 

''mmB||I^^ the agreement; in the third instance, South 
^9j^mK^r Carolina prepared to resist the Federal Execu- 

""liliilliii"' ^jyg jj^ ^]^g enforcement of an objectionable 

BoribbeXZriot. t'lriff law. In all these instances the States 
s. a. Mar. 18, 1/82. ^yQ^ their contentions; although the last case 

Served nearly 40 years in ' ^ 

in°slnrte^o?l?r'cabi'nlt ^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^ victory for the Federal govern- 
positions; prominent in de- nicnt, lu that wliilc Cougrcss repealed the 

Glaring tor war with Great ' '=' ^ 

^''\'''''^J^^?Lo'''''^'''^'; tariff, it at the same time announced the 

dent, 1825-1832; opposed ' 

m'^6-''favoSd^%(?teoth°e pi'ii^ciplc of Federal supremacy and laid the 
tariff' in 1816; opposed its foundation for the theory of indissoluble 

growth, 1824-1832, propos- 
ing nullification as remedy ; Union, on which was based the successful 

supported annexation of ' 

Texas. Died 1850. cocrciou of the seccdiug states in 1861-1865.^ 

From 1828 to 1830, Georgia took steps to bring the Cherokee 
Georgia nui- Indlaus uudcr its jurisdictiou. This Indian tribe called 
sion^ of "^ the itself a nation within the State of Georgia, and 
sta'tes * Su^ claimed the protection of the Federal government, 
preme Court rpj^^ United Statcs Suprcmc Court sustained the Indians, 

^ President Jackson openly sympathized with Georgia in its opposition 
to a decision of the United States Supreme Court; he seemed to acquiesce in 
the action of Maine and Massachusetts in their defiance of a Federal treaty; 
but he declared his determination to use the power of the Federal government, 
if necessary, against South Carolina in the proposed nullification of the tariff. 



NULLIFICATION ISSUES UNDER JACKSON 223 

but Georgia refused to abide by the decision, and President 
Jackson made no effort to enforce it. As the Federal judiciary 
reUes upon the executive branch of the government to carry out 
its decisions, Jackson's inaction, if not open opposition, permitted 
Georgia without hindrance to get complete control of the Indians 
within its borders.^ 

In the meantime, a question had arisen with Great Britain as 
to the boundary between Maine and Canada. In accordance 
with the provisions of the treaty of Ghent (December, Maine^and 
1814), the matter was referred to an arbitrator; both seus^def^y^a 
governments agreed upon the King of the Netherlands, treaty 
who awarded to Canada a strip of territory claimed by Maine. 
Forthwith Maine, together with Massachusetts (the latter State 
having an interest in the border lands), protested that if Congress 
ratified any such cession, both States would consider the action 
of the Federal government wholly null and void, and in no way 
binding on either commonwealth. Congress finally rejected the 
arbitrator's decision on the basis that the King of the Nether- 
lands had exceeded his instructions, and the boundary fine was 
not settled until some -years later. 

Before entering upon an exposition of the third and most 
important issue between State and Federal authority, it is neces- 
sary briefly to review events that led up to it in Congressional 
legislation and the presidential elections of 1832. At the end of 
his first term, Jackson's popularity was still very great, in spite 
of the disappointment he had occasioned his southern supporters 
by his apparent approval of the protecti ve tariff. Consequently, 

^ It is worth noting that the Cherokee Nation had established a govern- 
ment and civilization superior to that of other native tribes. They had gold 
mines, improved lands, and many of them were slave-holders. They were 
ousted by Federal force (some escaping to western North Carolina), but they 
sot up a capital and resumed their form of government at Tallequah in the 
Indian territory. Many of the Indians took part in the War of Secession; 
and, in 1866, they made a separate treaty with the United States government, 
freeing their slaves. 



224 ADMINISTRATIONS OF ANDREW JACKSON 

in 1832, the Democrats re-elected Jackson by a large majority 
over his chief opponent, Henry Clay, National Republican.^ 

Although in 1832 some changes had been made in the ''Tariff 
of Abominations," they were made at the instance of the manu- 
South Caro- facturcrs rather than in response to the demands of the 
to nullify a agricultural communities for relief from its unequal 
tariff pressure upon them. South Carolina, therefore, de- 

clared that the tariff was not binding upon that State, and took 
steps to carry a nullifying ordinance into effect. This action 
provoked an immediate issue between Jackson, on the one hand, 
supported by a majority in Congress, and South Carolina, under 
the leadership of Calhoun, on the other. The former prepared a 
''Force Bill" to put the army and navy of the Federal government 
at the service of the Executive in order to sustain the tariff laws, 
while South Carolina called upon her militia to prepare for re- 
jackson's at- sistaucc aucl possibly secession. Jackson issued a proc- 
titude lamation to the people of South Carolina, in the course 

of which he said: "The laws of the United States must be exe- 
cuted . . . my duty is emphatically pronounced in the Constitu- 
tion. Those who told you that you might peaceably prevent their 
execution deceived you. Their object is disunion. . . . Disunion 
by armed force is treason."^ The President made it plain, more-. 
over, that the army and navy of the Federal government would be 
used to enforce the collection of duties. 

^ It is interesting to note that both Jackson and Clay were nominated by 
national conventions, which were first brought into use at this time. Soutli 
Carolina gave her vote to John Floyd of Virginia and Henry I.ee of Massa- 
chusetts. . Vermont voted for William Wirt, leader of the Anti-Mason party. 

6 Calhoun hoped to prevent disunion by putting forward nuHification, the 
principle first brought forward by the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 
1798, and by other States from time to time after the War of Secession. Jack- 
son, however, had a few weeks before turned against his former political ally, 
largely on account of personal reasons; and, as in his controversy with Adams 
and with Clay, he misunderstood the motives of his opponent. The statement 
as to the "treason" of ''disunion by armed force" was perhaps the first such 
expression from a prominent source. Compare with this the expression of 
Josiah Quincy on the floor of Congress in 1812, See page 201. 



SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ISSUE 225 

The South Carolinians were not of a race tamely to yield to a 
show of force. On the other hand, Jackson was one of them; for 
he had been born on the border between North and South Caro- 
lina, where, as a mere boy, he had received a sabre cut from a 
British soldier in the War for Independence. Everyone knew that 
he meant to carry out to the letter what he said he would do. 
Consequently, blood must have been shed had not compromise 
Clay come forward with a bill providing for the gradual ^"^^^ed 
reduction of the tariff until the duties should have reached a mini- 
mum of 20 per cent in ten years, or by 1842. This measure proved 
satisfactory to the South Carolina leaders, and they repealed the 
ordinance of nullification. A ''force bill" definitely asserting 
Federal supremacy in the collection of the import duties was also 
passed by Congress as a part of the compromise, and both parties 
to the controversy claimed the victory. 

159. Significance of the Issue. — It is important to examine 
closely the significance of this great cUspute and to understand 
its far-reaching consequences. It was the first clearly marked 
issue between advocates of an ''indissoluble Union" Original 

views of 

and the adherents of the older constitutional view of state rights 

vs. the evo- 

the sovereignty of the State within the Union and its \y t ion of 

^ *^ , Federal pre- 

right to withdraw from it. Both sides included sincere rogative 
patriots and both loved the Union. That the States must be the 
final authority on questions vitally affecting their individual wel- 
fare seems clearly to have been the serious conviction of the 
founders of the Federal government. As the country grew, how- 
ever, there arose a conflict between the upholders of State sover- 
eignty and those who evolved the idea of a supreme nationality 
from the very expansion of the powers of the Federal government. 
In this conflict of opinion the viewpoint arising from or strength- 
ened by evolution and growth ultimately triumphed, and this 
question was settled by force of arms after four years of war. 
Thereafter the Federal Union ceased to be regarded as a compact 
between sovereign States; it became an indivisible body politic, 
or unit, something feared as much by its founders as the authority 
15 



226 ADMINISTRATIONS OF ANDREW JACKSON 

of the British ParHament. For nearly one hundred years, how- 
ever, the source of the greatest insistence upon the doctrine of 
State sovereignty (embracing the right of nuUification or of seces- 
sion) depended largely upon what State or community felt ag- 
grieved by the alleged aggressions of the Federal government. 

©The first notable exposition of the theory of 
indissoluble union came from the lips of Daniel 
Webster in the United States Senate in 1830, 
This was set forth in reply to Senator Robert 
Y. Hayne, of South Carolina, who TheWebster- 
had spoken on the question of nul- hou^iTdebates 
lificat-ion and the nature of the Fed- i830-i833 
eral compact. The matter which led to this 
famous debate arose in connection with a sim- 
DANiEL WEBSTER plc iuQuiry luto the sale of public land, to 
Born Salisbury N. H , ^yhich the castcm mauufacturcrs were object- 

Jan. 18, 1^82. Achieved '' 

distinction as orator early \y^„ chlcflv bccaUSC the WCStcm lauds thuS 

m life; as Federalist, op- ^ ^ 

posed war of 1S12 as in- oDcned for Settlement attracted eastern work- 

jurious to New Jbngland ^ 

States and justifying pos- j^ieu, making labor in the east scarce and 

sible withdrawal from the ' ^ 

Union; member of Con- wagcs high. The Havue-Webster debate was 

gress (N. H.), 1813-1817; o o ^ 

moved to Boston; repre- followed iu 1833 by auothcr cQually interesting 

sented Massachusetts in -^ /^ -^ *=" 

Congress, 1823-1827; op- ^nd important one between Webster and Cal- 

posed protective tarin, ^ 

^•^^^"J?ot= favored protec- houu, who had resigned the Vice-Presidency 

tion, 1828; opposed nuUi- ' ^ ^ 

fication (1832) and spoke ^o represent South Carolina in the Senate. 

strongly for an indissoluble '■ 

Union; opposed admission j^Q, Admissioii of ArkaHsas and Michigan, 

of Texas; served in L nited *^ 

States Senate and in Cab- 1836-1837.— lu 1836 Arkausas was admitted 

met positions; opposed ex- 
tension of slave territory, j^to the Uiiion, and Michigan was admitted 

and condemned abohtiomst ' ^ 

excesses, 1850. Died 1852. -^he followiug year as the twenty-sixth State. 
161. Presidential Elections of 1836. — The Presidential elections 
of 1836 resulted in a victory for the Democrats, whose candidate, 
Martin Van Buren of New York, received a majority vote over 
all the other candidates.^ General William H. Harrison (National- 

^ No candidate for Vice-President received a majority vote. Hence the 
election was thrown into the Senate, and the choice of that body fell upon 
R. M. Johnson, of Kentucky. 



1 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 227 

Republican or Whig; was the principal opposing candidate, al- 
though Hugh T. White (Democrat) of Tennessee, Daniel Webster 
(Whig) and W. P. Mangum (Whig) of North Carolina, received 
a few electoral votes. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

L Andrew Jackson was elected as the seventh President of the United 
States. Try to keep well in mind the names and order of succession of the 
Presidents. Every presidential election year is divisible by four; and, if it is 
desired to remember the successive dates, it is perhaps easier to begin and 
continue with the year of election rather than that of inauguration; as 1788- 
1792, etc., etc. 

2. The shortcomings of Andrew Jackson as President serve to illustrate 
that a successful soldier does not always mean a successful administrator or 
statesman. Nevertheless, Jackson's term marked the beginning of a long line 
of military heroes, elected to the Presidency or at least nominated for that 
office. For some time to come it was the exception to nominate a man who 
had not had a military record. 

3. Discuss the various nullification issues under Jackson. Could similar 
questions come up now? Cf. "Sidehghts and Suggestions" at end of Chapter 
XX. 



CHAPTER XXII 

Administration of Martin Van Buren, 1837-1841: Financial 
Distress; Anti-Slavery Agitation; The Seminole War 

162. Business Depression and Recovery. — The administra- 
tion of Martin Van Buren was marked by a great financial panic 
which shook the whole country. It followed upon the heels of an 
era of expansion and speculation, begun during the preceding 
administrations and accelerated by Jackson's sudden overthrow 
of the United States Bank, an act followed by a Federal demand 
for specie from the State banks that had become depositories for 
government funds. 

The rapid evolution of the steamboat had begun to develop the 
resources of the west and had greatly facilitated inland trade. 
This and the extension of American railway systems so increased 
Reckless property values that people speculated in real estate 
speculation ^^^^ other investments to a degree far beyond what the 
conditions justified.^ Financial institutions were not safeguarded 
as they are to-day, and after the overthrow of the United States 
Bank, government funds were placed in State banks, which be- 
gan to multiply to an alarming extent and almost without regula- 

^ The first practical railroad prepared for steam locomotives was the 
Baltimore and Ohio, chartered in 1827 to operate from Baltimore to Wheeling 
on the Ohio River. The first section of the road was completed to Ellicott's 
Mills (13 miles) in 1830, and in that year the pioneer engine "Tom Thumb" 
was finally defeated in a race with a horse-drawn car over a part of that dis- 
tance. The next practical use of the steam locomotive railroad was in South 
Carolina. The "Best Friend" locomotive, first used in 1830, w^as more suc- 
cessful than the "Tom Thumb" until it was wrecked the following year in an 
explosion caused by a negro sitting on the safety valve. In 1833 the Charleston 
and Hamburg line (137 miles) was the longest railway in the world. In the 
meantime, other railroad systems had been begun at Albany (N. Y.) and at 
Philadelphia. 
228 



AXTI-SLAYERY AGITATION 



229 




tion. The government had lent out its surplus funds to the State 
banks. These had, in turn, lent them out on all kinds of specula- 
tive enterprises, too many of which were based on false pretenses. 
Consequently, when the government called upon the banks to pay 
specie, instead of notes or promises to pay, 
the banks were unable to comply with the 
demand, and a great panic ensued.^ 

Great pressure was brought to bear on Van 
Buren to consent to schemes which would 
have given temporary relief, but wliich might 
have led to further and even worse financial 
trouble. The President, however, strove to 
free the financial system of the Federal gov- 
ernment from the corrupting control of party 

I f^ t J MARTIN VAN BUREN 

politics. In 1840 he succeeded in securing the Bom Kinderhook, n. y. 
passage of a bill to make the Treasury inde- 
pendent in the management of its funds. His 
plan provided for subtreasuries in the princi- 
pal cities.^ 

163. Canadian Border Troubles. — Consid- 
erable opposition was stirred up against the 
President on account of his conservative course 
in adjusting difficulties arising from a rebellion 
in Canada against British authority, for there portly sTatf rights; sup- 
were a number of Americans on the New York ^nf ?828"^re1e'c rfd ^by 
border in active sympathy with the rebels. PsT'wat nominallT Is 

164. Anti=slavery Agitation. — Jackson's pSafncy '''''"'^^'' ^" 
administrations had marked the rise into ^^^^' 



Dec. 5, 1782. Admitted 
to bar, 1803; elected to 
State senate, 1812; elected 
U. S. senator in 1821, 
serving in Senate until 
elected governor of New 
York; appointed Secre- 
tary of State by Andrew- 
Jackson in 1829; Vice- 
President, 1833-1837; suc- 
ceeded Jackson as Presi- 
dent for one term, 1837- 
1841, defeating William H. 
Harrison, but was in turn 
defeated by Harrison in 
1844; opposed annexation 



in 1848. Died 



political notice of the extreme type of abolitionists. Many of these 



- The government also required specie from individuals in payment for 
public lands. This led to additional demands on the banks for specie. 

^ This law was repealed by the victorious Whigs in 1841, but was re-enacted 
five years later. Several States now began to prepare more stringent banking 
laws. In this action they were encouraged by the attitude of the administra- 
tion. Especially was this true of Van Buren's own State of New York. 



230 ADMINISTRATION OF IMARTIN VAN BUREN 

were so intense in their hatred of slavery that they wished or at- 
tempted to stir up the slaves in a revolt such as had taken place in 
San Domingo early in the nineteenth century. Although not advo- 
cating the last-named measures, the most noted of these reformers 
or agitators was William LloA^d Garrison, who estabhshed a journal 
{The Liberator) devoted to abolitionist activities. 

These radical abolitionists, like all emancipationists, north or 
south, were right in what they wished to accomplish, but the 
language and methods of the former were intemperate and their 
conceptions of the slaveholder and his system were wrong and 
Abolitionist unjust. They were not onlv denounced by those more 

views and '' ^ . . " . *^ 

methods or Icss sclfishly interested in perpetuating a system that 
supplied the manufactures of the North and developed the pro- 
ducts of the South, but they were also opposed by the majority of 
patriotic citizens in the North on the ground that they rejoiced in 
stirring up strife, and that the very violence of their agitation made 
any agreement on a plan for gradual emancipation unlikely or even 
impossible. As time went on, they increased in number, and their 
constant denunciation of the South intensified the bitterness of 
the poHtical struggle between the sections. Moreover, by the 
circulation of inflammatory appeals to the negro, the abolitionists 
stirred up in the South a resentment that effectually blocked the 
sentiment for emancipation in that section, especially in the 
border States.* The extreme abolitionist openly and constantly 
proclaimed that war had broken out and that ''the sword was 
drawn." Because it sanctioned slavery, Garrison declared that 
the Constitution of the United States 'Svas a covenant with death 

^ This was notably the case in Virginia, where emancipation measures 
had been brought forward and had barely failed to pass in the legislature of 
that State in 1832. The chief reason why Virginia did not free itself from the 
economic incubus of slavery was the fear aroused by the Southampton insur- 
rection in August of the previous year (1831). This insurrection was led by an 
educated negro preacher named Nat Turner, assisted by a freed slave. In a 
night uprising of the negroes, fifty-seven whites were massacred, most of whom 
were women and children. It was believed that Turner was incited to this 
crime by the pamphlets of the abolitionists. 



1 



ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION 



231 



and an agreement with hell." For these and other utterances he 
was roughly treated in Boston, and his life was seriously threat- 
ened; in the South rewards were offered for his capture, and he 
would doubtless have fared badly had he ever visited that section. 
The southern people resented not only the intemperate abuse of 
themselves, but also the efforts to arouse in a general insurrection 
the slaves and free negroes. On the other hand, southern political 
leaders frequently attacked all abolitionists without discrimina- 
tion. With the aid of northern Representatives, measures were 
passed intended to cut off abolitionist petitions in Congress, 
partly because of their offensive language, but chiefly on the 
ground that Congress had no authority in the matter. 




fir 



Alttr I r. wi - iii-i r\ m tiie i irst LoLOiii jtue. Coiirtes> of D. Appleton & Co. 

This drawing shows Peter Cooper's "Tom Thumb" locomotive in the act of passing a 
horse-drawn coach on parallel track. The race took place on the Baltimore & Ohio Rail- 
way from the "Relay House" to Baltimore, Aug. 28, 1830. The locomotive proved to be 
the faster, but broke down "under the extraordinary excitement," and the horse won. 

It was natural that intemperate language and abuse on both 
sides should increase the political differences of the day between 
the North and the South. Communication between Results of 
the people of the two sections was comparatively in- *^^ agitation 
frequent. Each section saw less and less of the good in the other, 
and cooperation and sympathy grew more and more difficult. 
The ''good feehng" of 1820 was replaced by misrepresentation, 
mutual distrust, and enmity, feelings that were industriously cul- 
tivated by politicians and others who sought to derive profit from 
them. It may be said, therefore, that although the methods of 
the extreme abolitionists were wrong, southern leaders weakness of 

the southern 

were also wrong in demanding the overthrow of the position 
abolitionist press and the arrest of their orators. Although the 



232 ADMINISTRATION OF MARTIN VAN BUREN 

Constitution extended protection to the institution of slavery, the 
position of the southerners was pecuharly weak. On the one hand, 
if the violent appeals of the abolitionists were permitted to circu- 
late in the South, servile insurrections might be incited even 
among a people that bore their bondage lightly and were happier 
and more fortunate under its tutelage than they had ever been in 
the heathen regions of Africa. If, on the other hand, the southern 
leaders tried to suppress abolitionist literature by force and to 
arrest the abolitionists, they were placed in the position of attack- 
ing a free press and freedom of speech.^ 

165. Last Indian War in the East. — During the greater part of 
Van Buren's administration, war with the Seminole Indians in 
Florida caused much bloodshed and the expenditure of large sums 
of money. The Florida Indians were ably led by Black Drink, 
better known as Osceola, and he succeeded in putting off the 
transportation of the Seminoles for seven years, in which time 
there occurred innumerable ambuscades, surprises, massacres, and 
open engagements. It was the last stand made by the aborigines 
east of the Mississippi River in resistance to the white settlers.^ 

5 President Jackson advocated the exclusion from the United States mails 
of incendiary publications intended to incite the slaves. The House of Repre- 
sentatives went so far as to prohibit (1838) the reading of petitions for the 
abolition of slavery, which were frequently violent denunciations not only 
of that institution, but of all slaveholders as criminals not entitled to the 
protection of the law. In 1840, the House resolved not to receive petitions 
at all. Ex-president John Quincy Adams was the leading opponent of this 
"gag" rule, and it was finally rescinded. 

^ This war had been preceded in Jackson's first administration by an 
Indian war in the west in 1831-1832. The whites had seized ceded lands which, 
however, were still occupied by the Indians. The latter rose in an insurrec- 
tion under the leadership of Black Hawk. They were at first successful and 
ravaged the country from Chicago westward, but their struggle against the 
white man was a hopeless one. They were finally defeated, Black Hawk was 
captured and taken to Washington, bi^t was restored to liberty in 1833. The 
Black Hawk war is of unusual historical interest in that one of the western 
volunteers was Abraham Lincoln, afterwards President of the United States. 
He was elected a captain and served with Lieutenant Jefferson Davis, after- 



PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1840 233 

166. Presidential Campaign of 1840. — In many of its aspects, 
the Presidential election of 1840 was not unlike that of 1828 when 
Jackson was first elected. The Democrats nominated Van Buren 
and R. M. Johnson of Kentucky. The Whigs put up as their 
candidates General William Henry Harrison and John Tyler. As 
in the case of Andrew Jackson there was an appeal made to the 
people on the basis of the simphcity, or plainness, of General 
Harrison in contrast with the alleged aristocratic attitude of his 
opponent. During the campaign, a Democratic newspaper re- 
ferred to Harrison as a man content to live in a log cabin with a 
small pension and a barrel of hard cider. The Whigs took up the 
challenge, and ''the log cabin, cider barrel, and reform" became 
the battle-cry of that party. Van Buren carried Illinois and five 
southern States. Harrison secured the electoral vote of all the 
rest, or 234, to 40 for Van Buren and Johnson.^ 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Is there any lesson that we might learn from the various panics and 
periods of business depression such as the one briefly described in Sec. 162? 
Is there any similarity between this panic and those of 1792 and 1819? 

2. The reference on page 228 to the beginning of American railroads is 
necessarily brief. Rails prepared for horses preceded those for locomotives. 
The subject should prove an interesting one for special investigation. 

3. In connection with the subject of slavery and emancipation discussed 
in Sec. 164, it is worth while to reproduce portions of a letter from a freed 
slave, who, prior to emancipation, belonged to a family of Virginia: 

''Monrovia, Liberia, Dec. t9th, 1847 
. . . " By these few lines you may know that I am well and the Family 
and I do hope that these few lines may find you and the Family the same. 

wards President of the Southern Confederacy. Another future President of 
the United States, Zachary Taylor, served as a colonel in the regular army. 
Albert Sidney Johnston, afterwards distinguished in the Mexican war and in 
the Confederate army; and Robert Anderson, who commanded at Fort Sumter 
in 1861, also served in this war. 

^"Tippecanoe and Tyler too" was a favorite and effective cry of the 
Whigs during the campaign. "Tippecanoe" referr;^'l to General Harrison's 
notable victory over the Indians at Tippecanoe, November 7, 1811. 



234 ADMINISTRATION OF MARTIN VAN BUREN 

You wrote in the last that when we write we must write a full account of the 
Colony and of us in particular. — as to the Regards of this Colony, any man 
can live heare that will Work and if a man is got money he can Live. All the 
Fault I find in this Place the things is so deare that I has to Work to get some- 
thing for me and my children to Eat and as fast as I can get a little money I 
have to take it all to Buy some Clothes for my Children to ware. . . . 
Please Miss Sally send money or buy some goods for me for I am in want of 
them to get me a house built in the place of the thatch hut I am now living 
in, also the following articles: Tobacco, Cloth & Flour & Meat, Powder & 
guns and nails. 

''Your obdt servant, 

Peggie Potter." 

Appended to this letter was a postscript from Peggie's son, Daniel, part 
of which is as follows: 

"I beg you if you please madam to send me some books 
Smiths Geography 
" Arithmetic 
" Grammar 
and some Slate Pencils and a Slate and some Pens and paper and ink. Please 
to send me some books of all kinds. I beg of you please to send me a set of 
shoemakers tools. . . . Give my respects to all White and Black." 

Thousands of slaves were voluntarily freed by their owners at great sacri- 
fice and expense and sent to Africa under the auspices of the Colonization 
Society. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

Administrations of Harrison and Tyler, 1841-1845: Con- 
flict BETWEEN Tyler and Congress; Texas Applies 
FOR Admission into the Union 

167. Beginnings of a Whig Administration. — Following the 
precedent set by Jackson, President Harrison and the Whigs made 
wholesale removals from pubUc office to give places to their own 
partisans and followers. Harrison, however, issued a proclamation, 
the intent of which was to restrain, on pain of dismissal, the over- 
zealousness of office-holders in partisan politics. The President 
placed the pubhc duties of their positions above their obligations 
to the party to which they owed their preferment. 

Together with this first warning to political appointees, the 
President issued a call for a special session of Congress to consider 
the Whig policies ; but a f cav davs after he had written d e a t h o f 

'^ ^ ' " President 

the proclamation he became ill, and died on the fourth Harrison 
of April. Thus, for the first time in the half century of the history 
of the United States, a Vice-President was called upon to take up 
the duties of the chief magistrate. 

168. Conflict between Tyler and the Whig Leaders. — By the 
death of Harrison, the Whigs felt that they had lost the fruit of 
their victory in the preceding elections; for Tyler, although nomi- 
nated on the Whig ticket, was really in accord with Democratic 
policies. The change in administration, therefore, caused imme- 
diate friction between the Whig majority in Congress and the 
President. Two bills brought forward by Clay and the The United 
Whigs to re-establish the United States Bank were ve- ^'""'^^ ^^""^ 
toed by Tyler. Thereupon all the members of the Harrison Whig 
cabinet resigned except Webster, who remained to complete nego- 
tiations then in progress with Great Britain. When these negotia- 



236 ADMINISTRATIONS OF HARRISON AND TYLER 

tions were closed by an agreement known as the Ashburton treaty 
Webster also resigned.^ 

Another matter on which President Tyler and the leading 
Whigs differed was the proposed annexation of Texas, which was 
Proposed an- then an independent countr^^ President Tyler ar- 

nexation of . ^ . c ^. 

Texas dentlj^ desired annexation of this great region, although 

such distinguished statesmen as Webster, Clay, Benton, and Van 
Buren heartily opposed it. In view of the importance of the 

©subject, it is necessary to review at this point 
the circumstances leading up to the establish- 
ment of Texas as an independent republic and 
the arguments brought forward for union with 
the United States. 
169. Review of Events Leading to the In- 
dependence of Texas, 1820-1836. — As early as 
1820, Moses Austin of Connecticut had secured 
from the Spanish government a grant of land 
in Texas, where he and his son, Stephen F. 

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON Ax' 1 * J U i? * i T 

Born Charles City Co Austiu, colouized a uumbcr 01 emigrants irom 
l^M!tr}ce'T-.eS::i tlic United Statcs. Texas was then a part of 
{fom'Geo?gt wSSgt'on" Mcxico, and whcu that country established its 
SmplU'Tg^ainst'^SLVs^ independence of Spain in 1821, Stephen F. 
iSr\e^rriS?^''fS°°too^k ^ustlu sccurcd from the Mexican government 
mS^sec^urinVlrom''& ^ rcucwal of thc Spaulsh grauts. other grants 
fand inio^'imairer ^ra^cJs ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ emigrants from the states until 
™o°o7er''itUe'?sT'a^^^^ ^^cir numbcrs had so increased that the 
anl\l?rko?y-'°La^ppoiS Mcxlcau govemmeut grew jealous of their 
toibtt'EJoTTipp'et'nJe strength. Mexico then forbade further im- 
Canadar^^sfs-^clng^ss- "ligration and in many ways so harassed 
sln°ato''r"'^fronr' ohiof'^de- *^^ scttlcrs that iu 1833 they rose in revolt. 
iTecledVreskSf; 1840' ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ Auglo-American settlers defeated 
^^^^ 18^1- the Mexicans in the battles of Gonzales and 

Goliad. In the following year, however, Santa Anna, President 
of Mexico, with an army of 4000 men, laid siege to the Alamo, 
1 This treaty fixed the northeastern boundary of Maine. 



PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS OF 1S44 237 

an old Spanish mission used as a fort, and every one of the Texan 
garrison, including the famous pioneer, David Crockett, died fight- 
ing to the last. Shortly afterward, 300 Texans, who The Alamo 
had surrendered to Santa Anna, were cruelly massa- cinto 
cred by the Mexicans. ''Remember the Alamo!" ''Remember 
Goliad!" became the cries of the Texans, and in the following 
year, under General Samuel Houston, they decisively defeated 
the Mexican army at San Jacinto and drove all the Mexican 
forces beyond the Rio Grande. They even captured Santa Anna 
and held him prisoner. By this victory 
Texas practically established her independ- 
ence, which was shortly afterwards recog- 
nized by the United States and by other 
powers. 

In 1837, proposals from Texas for annex- 
ation to the United States met with no en- 
Opposition couragemcut from President Van 

to annexa- 

tion Buren, but later, during Tyler s 

term of office, the question again came up 




JOHN TYLER 



with greater insistence. Webster, as Secre- ^, Born Charies city Co , 

^ . ' Va., Mar. 29, 1<90. Served 

tary of State, prevented action, but when that in legislature of Virginia 

*^ ^ and as governor of the 

statesman retired from the cabinet, Tyler was state; United states sena- 

' -^ tor 1827-1836, where he 

free to select first A. P. Upshur, and then became noted as a strong 

supporter of State rights; 

Calhoun, to carry out a treaty of annexation elected vice-Preskient with 

Harrison in 1840, becom- 

with Texas. Clay, Benton, Webster, and ing President (is4i) on 

•^ ' . ' death of latter; strongly 

others succeeded, however, in bringing about advocated annexation of 

Texas; presided over peace 

the defeat of the treaty in the Senate by a convention called to settle 

difficulties between North 
vote of 35 to 16. and South in 1861; elected 

to Confederate Congress, 

170. Presidential Elections of 1844.— The isei. Died 1862. 
question of annexation was put directly before the people in the 
presidential elections of 1844, Henry Clay was nominated by 
the Whigs soon after he had declared strongly against annexa- 
tion. James K. Polk of Tennessee and George M. Dallas of Penn- 
sylvania were nominated by the Democrats on a platform of ex- 
pansion in the southwest (Texas) and in the northwest (Oregon). 



238 ADMINISTRATIONS OF HARRISON AND TYLER 

The campaign resulted in the election of Polk and Dallas, thus 
preparing the way for annexation.^ 

171. Political Revolutions in Rhode Island and New York. — 

During the administration of President Tyler, poHtical and social 
disturbances occurred in the States of Rhode Island and New 
York. In the former the difficulty was of so serious a nature that 
it became known as Dorr's Rebellion. In accordance with the 
old royal charter which the State continued to maintain, a large 
proportion of the citizens of Rhode Island were excluded from a 
share in the government. With a few exceptions, only property 
owners and their eldest sons were allowed to vote. The disfran- 
chised and the discontented determined to get by force the suffrage 
so long withheld from them. They framed a constitution, elected 
Dorr's rebel- a legislature, and chose Thomas W. Dorr for governor. 

lion in Rhode -r>. , i , . -,. . -, . 

Island Dorr s government degenerated mto a disorganized in- 

surrection, which, after some show of fighting, was put down by 
United States troops. But reform followed the "rebellion," and 
Rhode Island extended the franchise to include a larger propor- 
tion of her population. 

In New York there were similar troubles, owing to popular 
agitation against the holding of great manorial estates, main- 
Anti-manor- taincd somcwhat in accordance with the original aristo- 

ial agitation • ^ r ^ -r>, i i • r\ 

in New York cratic plan of the Dutch patroonships. Sometimes the 
titles to the manorial estates were disputed, and combinations 
were formed among the renters to resist the annual payments 
prescribed by the old system. Finally, the owners of the estates 
made concessions which enabled renters to buy land. These 
reformers secured a greater measure of popular government both 
in Rhode Island and New York. 

2 In an effort to secure southern support, Clay wrote letters during the 
campaign that showed a wavering from his original expressions of opposition 
to annexation. This wavering cost him the support of the extreme abolition- 
ists, who cast many of their votes for James G. Birney of the Libertj^ party. 
This party, representing the poUtical wing of these aboHtionists, was formed 
in 1840. This was Birney's second nomination for the presidenc -. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 239 

172. The First Use of the Electric Telegraph, 1844.— The last 
year of Tyler's administration saw the practical application of 
S. F. B. Morse's electric telegraph. A line was constructed be- 
tween Baltimore and Washington, and a few days later the news 
of the Democratic convention that nominated Polk and Dallas 
was flashed over the wires to the Federal capital. 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. The day before Polk was inaugurated as President, Congress passed a 
bill admitting Florida to the Union. Iowa also was knocking at the door, 
but a boundary dispute delayed her admission until the following year. 

2. Look, up Morse and the electric telegraph in some more extended 
account? 

• 3. Why should there have been opposition to the admission of Texas? 
4. To David Crockett, one of the heroes of the Alamo, is ascribed the 
sajdng, "Be sure you are right, then go ahead." His autobiography is inter- 
esting reading. It may be added that the older histories give neither a 
fair conception of the struggle of the Texans nor of the causes of the War 
with Mexico that followed annexation. Later investigators are correcting 
these impressions. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

Administration of James K. Polk, 1845-1849: Annexation 
OF Texas and War with Mexico 

173. Annexation of Texas, 1845. — The triumph of Polk and 
Dallas in the elections of 1844 was taken by the Democrats to 
indicate the wish of the majority of the people for the annexation 
of Texas. In the following year, during Tyler's term of office, 
Congress passed the necessary measures to effect the desired end. 
Consequently, in December, 1845, the independent Repubhc 
of Texas became a State in the Federal Union. 

Although, subsequent to Santa Anna's disastrous defeat in 
1836, Mexico had not seriously attempted to regain control of 
B o u n d a ry Texas, shc had never formally yielded her claims to that 

disputes with 

Mexico region. She therefore regarded annexation as an un- 

friendly act by the United States government. Diplomatic inter- 
course between the United States and Mexico was cut short by 
the act of Mexico, and preparations were made for a possible 
armed conflict, which, however, might have been averted had not 
Texas, basing her demands on the agreement made by Santa 
Anna, declared that her boundaries extended beyond the Nueces 
River to the Rio Grande. 

174. War against Mexico Declared, 1846. — To uphold the 
Texan claims. General Zachary Taylor, in command of United 
First blood- Statcs troops, was ordered to occupy the territory lying 

shed Apr. 25, , . ^ , , i • i 

1846 between the two rivers. Several months passed without 

armed conflict, but on April 25, 1846, Mexican troops ambushed 
and attacked a scouting party of Americans on the Texas side of 
the Rio Grande. The latter were killed or captured, and Con- 
gress declared that war had been begun by the act of Mexico. 

175. Taylor's Campaign in Northern Mexico, 1846-1847. — Gen- 
Advance into eral Taylor acted with vigor and dispatch. Although 
Mexico greatly outnumbered by the Mexicans, he repelled an 
attack at Palo Alto on May 8, and on the following day badly 

240 



i 



SCOTT'S CAMPAIGN IN CENTRAL MEXICO 241 

defeated the Mexicans at Resaca de la Palma, driving them in 
rout beyond the Rio Grande. Taylor then crossed the Rio Grande, 
and upon receiving reinforcements at Matamoras, advanced into 
Mexico. In September he overthrew the Mexicans at Monterey 
after three days of fierce fighting. 

At this point the American general-in-chief, Winfield Scott, 
ordered a part of Taylor's force to cooperate with him in an en- 
deavor to reach and capture the capital of Mexico by another 

route. This depletion of his comn:iand rendered Gen- Taylor at- 
tacked by 
eral Taylor not only powerless for further mvasion, but Santa Anna 

endangered the safety of his remaining force; for Santa Anna, 
again the Mexican President and Commander-in-chief, now moved 
against Taylor with the expectation of crush- 
ing him. The latter, however, successfully 
withstood the Mexican attack in a two-day 
engagement at Buena Vista (February 22 and 
23, 1847), and finally compelled Santa Anna 
to beat a retreat. Taylor had about 5000 
men while the Mexican general commanded a 
force estimated at 20,000. General Taylor at 
once became the hero of the war, although his 
campaign ended at this point in order to make j^mes k. polk 

way for that of General Scott. j^b«™ ^xov''''2"'^i795' 

176. Kearny and Fremont in California.- Il^i^^ i^i^^^^ 
In the meantime. General Stephen W. Kearny, I'^^l^^^ Jof seven' term's! 
after a march of nearly 1000 miles from Fort ^|f j^5hoserVpea\^er'Tf 
Leavenworth, Kansas, had captured Santa Fe ^^^ Ho^^^'^eiec^ted gover- 
in New Mexico in August, 1846. Kearny then strongly advocated annex- 

~ ' ^ ation oi 1 exas, and was 

joined an American force under John C. Fre- elected President over ciay 

•> in 1S44, serving one term. 

mont, who, w^ith the naval forces under Com- i^i^d i849. 

modores Sloat and Stockton, had taken possession of Cahfornia. 

177. Scott's Campaign in Central Mexico, 1847.— In March, 
1847, General Scott, with an army of 12,000 men, appeared before 
the strongly fortified seaport of Vera Cruz, which w^as Cerro Gordo 
captured in the same month after bombardment by the Americans. 




242 ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES K. POLK 

The mountain pass of Cerro Gordo was next attacked. Here Santa 
Anna lay in a position practically unassailable from his front, while 
he declared that even a mountain goat could not approach his rear. 
After several days of delay, a possible path was discovered by a 
young artillery captain of the United States army, Robert E. Lee. 
In three days the Americans had cut their way through almost 
insuperable natural cUfRculties to the rear of the Mexicans, whom 
they promptly attacked. Thirteen thousand Mexicans were put 
to flight, and a fourth of their army was killed or captured. 

After a delay of some weeks to await the arrival of reinforce- 
ments, Scott's army took up in August their 260-mile march to 
Mexico city. Then followed the severest fighting of the war, 
and, although one i\.merican success followed another, the Mexi- 
cans fought stubbornly, inflicting severe losses on the invaders. 
Again and again it seemed that the American army was about to 
be defeated and swallowed up in the midst of outnumbering foes, 
to be as often saved by the single daring act of some braVe officer 
or by the alertness and brilliant strategy of another. Successively 
the Americans carried the intrenched position at Contreras, cap- 
tured the almost impregnable fortress of Cherubusco, and finally 
stormed Mexico City. The Mexican capital surrendered on the 14th 
of September, 1847, thus practically bringing the war to a close. 

178. Treaty of Peace Signed, 1848. — Early in the following 
year a treaty of peace was signed at Guadalupe Hidalgo, by which 
Mexico formally relinquished her claims to all her former territory 
Western ac- Horth of the Rio Grande. To the United States she 
2nd^e'r^°thl ^Iso ccdcd Ncw Mcxico and Upper California, territory 
treaty ^j^,^^ ^1^^^^ embraced all the present States of California, 

Nevada; and Utah, together with parts of Arizona, Colorado, and 
Wyoming. In return for this cession the United States agreed to 
pay Mexico $15,000,000, and to settle claims of Americans against 
Mexico amounting to $3,250,000.1 

^ Five years later, an additional territory, now included in the southern 
portions of the present States of Arizona and New Mexico, was bought for 
$10,000,000. This is known as the Gadsden purchase, and was named after 
James Gadsden, then minister to Mexico. 



WAR WITH MEXICO 



243 



from Greenwich 97 

TS^AR T\ ITH MEXICO 

SCALE OF MILES 




'~"'*V'^>»1^' ^vb^^-^-Wa i0R|A^_^ #iJ 



^/ ^ 1^^ 




244 ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES K. POLK 

The war with Mexico had not been popular in the northeastern 
States, and the accession of Texas was not regarded with favor in 
Opposition that section. The extreme type of aboHtionists did not 
in the North f^y^j. ^j^jg acquisition of territory because it seemed 
Hkely to offer opportunity for the extension of African slavery. 
Pohtical leaders in the same section opposed it largely on the 
ground that Josiah Quincy had taken in opposing the acquisition 
of the Louisiana Territory under Jefferson — that it would increase 
the power of a rival sect ion. - 



«; 



■^^-^1^ 



.*^ 



^^m 
'^^ 



BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA 



This battle all but proved a great disaster when a regiment of volunteers fled before 
the overwhelming numbers of the enemy. General Tajior was forced to ride to the front to 
rally his men; and the army was saved by the determined courage of George H. Thomas, 
afterwards to be known as the "Rock of Chickamauga," and the dashing attack of Missis- 
sippi riflemen under Jefferson Davis, later President of the Southern Confederacy. 

Agitation was begun in the north to have Congress prohibit 
slavery in all the territory acquired from Mexico. A bill to that 
Anti-slavery effcct was iutroduccd in Congress during the war with 
V o 1 V e s sec- Mcxico by David Wilmot of Pennsylvania, and was called 
troversy thcrcfrom the "Wilmot Proviso." The southern politi- 
cal leaders, however, objected to it, not only on account of slave- 
holding interests, but because such a provision would naturally 

- Such a thought would not occur north, south, east, or west to-day; but 
it was a real issue from the foundation of the Union until such sectional issues 
were practically obUterated some time after the War of Secession. Cf. Sees. 
143, 144, 145. 



1 



TREATY OF PEACE SIGNED 245 

ally the whole of that section with the economic and political 
policies of the North; moreover, if the territory excluded the negro 
slave, it would exclude the slaveholder. 

The Wilmot proviso failed, but a great deal of ill feeling was 
aroused during the debates on the proposed measure. Politicians 
played upon this sentiment and greatly magnified it; the people 
took it up and several of the churches split into northern and 
southern divisions. Distinguished preachers declared that slavery 
in itself was the vilest of crimes. The inference followed that the 



m^- 





STORMING OF THE FORTRESS OF CHAPULTEPEC (September 12-13, 1847) 

The last serious obstacle to Scott's march upon the City of Mexico. This engagement 
put to a severe test over a score of young officers who subsequently became renowned com- 
manders in the sectional struggle of 1861-1865. Among others, George B. McCiellan and 
U. S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and T. J. Jackson entered the capital of Mexico together. 

southern slaveholder was the worst of criminals, in spite of the 
fact that in character and ability the slaveholder represented a 
high type of Anglo-Saxon citizenship. On the other hand, the 
southern slaveholders learned to hate all abolitionists, could see 
no good in them, and denounced them in extravagant terms.^ 

3 In 1846 a dangerous dispute with Great Britain, in regard to the nortli- 
western boundary hne, was settled by compromise. Great Britain and the 
United States had each hiid claims to what had become known as the Oregon 
country. It was widely asserted that the claim of the Ignited States extended 
far into what is now British Columbia. The demand for the territory became 



246 ADMINISTRATION^ OF JAMES K. POLK 

179. Presidential Elections of 1848. — In the presidential cam- 
paign of 1848, the Democrats nominated Lewis Cass of Michigan 
and William 0. Butler of Kentucky. The Whigs nominated 
General Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore, of New York. 
A third or ''Free Soil Party" nominated former president Martin 
Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams, son of John Quincy 
Adams. Taylor and Fillmore were elected, and for a third time 
in twenty years a popular war hero attained to the highest office 
in the gift of the people. 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. The war with Mexico reflected the highest credit on the United States 
army and volunteers. A very large number of the commanders who achieved 
distinction on either side during the War of Secession gained valuable military 
experience in the Mexican campaigns. Among them may be mentioned 
U. S. Grant, George H. Thomas, R. E. Lee, and Thomas J. (Stonewall) 
Jackson. 

2. Look up a more extended account of some one of the battles that oc- 
curred during the campaigns of General Scott or of General Taylor. 

3. In 1851 Congress greatly reduced the rates of postage. The char-g-^ 
for "single sheet" letters had originally been as high as 8 cents for short dis- 
tances to 25 cents for the longer. The new rules permitted an increase in the 
size of the letter and reduced the postage to five and ten cents, according to 
distance east of the Rocky Mountains. To the Pacific territories the smallest 
postage by way of the Isthmus of Panama was 40 cents. Imagine how people 
in the early days economized space on letter paper! 

4. In 1846 and 1848 Iowa and Wisconsin were admitted into the Union, 
politically offsetting Florida and Texas. 

insistent and was voiced in the cry, "Fifty-four forty or fight," referring to 
that parallel of latitude as the proposed dividing line. After a great deal of 
discussion based on this extreme claim and the alleged concessions under 
previous administrations. President Polk and Congress agreed to accept the 
forty-ninth parallel as the continuous northern boundary of the United States 
from the Rocky Mountains to the middle of the channel which separates the 
island of Vancouver from the continent. From thence the line was deflected 
to include the whole of Vancouver in the British possessions. 



1 




CHAPTER XXV 

Administrations of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore, 
1849-1853: Gold Found in California 

180. The California Gold Rush, 1849.— Before the election 
of Taylor, and a few days before the signing of the treaty with 
Mexico, gold had been discovered in California. As soon as this 
became known in the east, a great rush set in for the Pacific coast. 
Throughout 1849 a constant stream of emi- 
grants covered all available routes to the west. 
These pioneers endured incredible hardships 
on the way, many of them perished, but thou- 
sands pressed on to final success. Before the 
end of the year, small settlements like Sacra- 
mento and San Francisco grew into cities of 
from ten to twenty thousand inhabitants. 
The pioneer hfe was rough at best, and the 
prospect of sudden riches had attracted a law- zachary taylor^ 
less element which at first terrorized the new sepr''24^''i7S4. ^°RaSd 
community; but it was not long before the ^e'^rtecf 5rn1)itS^ 
better citizens gained control and began the Sl^ok Hawk^^l^Sr'tL'^ 
preparation of a constitution. When this con- ^^''^Fi^Jdl? led^^nvaS 
stitution had been drawn up the territory J'oTt hem' io^'dS'' winning 
applied for achnission to the Union as a State. l^JJ^^'^esacl'^de'ia^ParmL" 

181. California Seeks Admission to the .^L^if^^Samed M-'hi 
Union.— The admission of Cahfornia became "^Sv;'''was'^ei?cTef pJJs'^- 
at once an issue of unusual political impor- ^^f^/^'hiirprSfdent/juiy 
tance. The North desired her immediate ad- ^' i^^^- 

mission, together with a provision to exclude slavery from all the 
territories, and to abolish it in the District of Columbia, sectional 
The South opposed these demands, including the imme- strugSfi'^^Ji 
diate admission of California, on the ground that Cali- 
fornia should first be regularly organized under a territorial form of 
government, and admitted only after that had been done. The 

247 



248 ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE 

struggle for political control of California and the remainder of the 
former Mexican territory grew so bitter that it threatened the dis- 
solution of the Union. Secession sentiment began to grow in both 
sections. Many southerners felt that the admission of California 
as a free State would destroy the balance of power hitherto main- 
tained, and that the interests of their section could no longer be 
safeguarded. In the North some of the extreme abolitionists de- 
clared openly that they favored a dissolution of the Union. ^ 

Finally, sufficient votes in Congress were mustered to support 
a '^compromise measure" brought forward by Henry Clay, the 
provisions of which were: (1) that California was to be admitted 
without slavery; (2) that the remainder of the land acquired from 
Mexico was to be organized into territories witliout reference to 
slavery; (3) that while slavery was to continue in the District of 
Columbia, slave trading there was to be forbidden; (4) that a new 
and more stringent fugitive slave law should be enacted; (5) that 
a payment of $10,000,000 should be made to Texas in considera- 
tion of the giving up by that State of territory claimed both by 
Texas and the Federal government. 

The compromise ended the debate in Congress, but it was 
opposed by Calhoun, on the ground that most of its provisions 
Southern wcrc to the advantage of the North; that the North, in 
promise coutrol of both houscs of Congress, could pass oppres- 

sive tariff and other legislation hostile to southern interests, with- 
out any hope on the part of the South of successful opposition; 
and the South would be forced either to submit to the almost 
unrestricted will of a hostile majority or to withdraw from the 
Northern Uniou. On the other hand. Senator William H. Seward, 
""'^^ of New York, declared that the North had yielded too 

much to the institution of slavery, and that there was a ''higher 
law" than either the Constitution or Congressional enactments — 
the moral obligation to protect^human rights. 

1 It should be noted that the admission of Cahfornia either as a slave or as 
a free State would violate the spirit of the Missouri Compromise, since part 
of the State was above and part below the parallel 36° 30'. 



DEATH OF PRESIDENT TAYLOR 249 

The fugitive slave law was, in effect, a dead letter from the 
date of its passage. On the one hand, it was peculiarly harsh in 
that it denied the right of the negro to be heard in his o^\ti behalf. 
On the other hand, it aroused among the people of the North such 
resentment against the slaveholder, coupled wdth sentiment on 
behalf of the negro, that anything any negro chose to tell of his 
former bondage was implicitly believed by thousands of people who 
knew little or nothing of the true conditions in 
the southern States. Passions were further in- 
flamed by the appearance in 1852 of a novel by r-^ 
Harriet Beecher Stowe, entitled ''Uncle Tom's / ^ 
Cabin." It was intended to present a story of j 




slave life in the South largely founded on 
actual instances of hardship and cruelty. Such 
hardship and cruelty were possible under the 
southern system, and there would have been 
no harm done in representing them; but in 

^ *=• ' MILLARD FILLMORE 

those days of general ignorance of one section Bom Cayuga Co., n. y., 
concerning another, the story was widely ac- uc^career^*in Erie^coumy^ 
cepted as a picture of average conditions. In fl^f Rep™t?tSf "i 
the North the book provoked a great storm of SS^rroiier ^IS^ of 'xew 
honest but ignorant denunciation and even de- p^iideift^'o'n^dcke^t \u^th 
testation of a differentiated but equally high- ^am^e^^re^fien?; ^iHi 'i'n 
toned and moral people. The voice of sympa- ?or' Presilm °o7 l^tll 
thy and cooperation with the South in solving ^^"'^ ''' ^^^^- ^^^^ ^^^*- 
its problems was lost in a tempest of passion ; expressions of good 
will for the southern people were misinterpreted and cried down 
as a defense of slavery. In the South the emancipationist was 
confounded with the extreme abolitionist, so that pul)lic discus- 
sions of the ills or evils of slavery became increasingly difficult. 

182. Death of President Taylor, 1 850.— President Taylor died 
July 9, 1850, before the completion of his term, and Vice- ciayton-Bui- 
President Fillmore succeeded him. In the same year a ^^^ Treaty 
treaty was made with Great Britain for the purpose of guaranteeing 
the neutrality of any ship canal that might be cut through Central 



250 ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE 

America or the Isthmus. The agreement became known as the 
Clayton-Bulwer treaty, from the names of the American Secretary 
of State and the British minister, the agents of negotiation.^ 

183. Visit of Kossuth; the Martin Koszta Affair.— In 1851 the 
Hungarian patriot, Louis Kossuth, visited the United States and 
created in this country a great deal of sympathy for his fellow 
revolutionists, who had risen in revolt against Austrian misrule. 
The United States government, however, refused to allow senti- 
mental considerations to involve this country in a European war. 
In this course those in authority pointed to the precedent set by 
Washington in the Genet episode. These troubles in Austria led 
to a complication of international importance which might have 
resulted in a war between that country and the United States. 
An aide-de-camp of Kossuth, Martin Koszta, escaped to America 
and took out preliminary naturalization papers, declaring his 
intention to become a citizen of the United States. Afterwards, in 
June, 1853, by Austrian authority, he was arrested in Smyrna, Asia. 
Immediately subsequent to his arrest, Captain N. D. Ingraham, in 
command of the United States sloop of war St. Louis, arrived at 
Smyrna. On July 2, although greatly outnumbered by the Aus- 
trian vessels and armament in Smyrna, Ingraham, at the point of 
opening fire upon the Austrians, demanded and secured the release 
of the prisoner, who was finally returned to the United States.^ 

184. Treaty with Japan. — In 1853 Commodore M. C. Perry 
visited Japan and was successful in bringing about, in 1854, a 

2 John M. Clayton of Delaware and Sir Henry Bulwer. 

3 This event was hailed with acclaim in several nations. Koszta was not 
a citizen of the United States, but he had announced his intention of becoming 
one. The United States consul at Smyrna had given him a letter of safe con- 
duct and had extended to him thereby the protection of the United States; 
Captain Ingraham was further justified in giving consideration to Koszta's 
case, as the latter was illegally arrested in a neutral port. Congress approved 
Ingraham's courageous stand and awarded him a medal. The working men 
of Great Britain, subscribing one cent each, gave the American commander 
a silver chronometer, while the German- American citizens of Chicago and 
other bodies presented him wdth special testimonials of esteem. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 251 

treaty with that hitherto unapproachable country. This treaty 
ultimately led to the introduction of western ideas and civilization 
into the island empire of the east, and its results were destined to 
startle the world before the close of the nineteenth century. 

185. Death of Calhoun, Clay, and Webster.— By the close of 
the year 1852, a great trio of American statesmen had passed away 
to give place to younger men. Calhoun of the lower south had 
died early in 1850; Clay of the upper south and west died in June, 
1852; and Webster, of the New England States, died in October 
of the same year. Each had aspired to the Presidency, but all 
had failed to reach that goal.^ 

186. Presidential Elections of 1852.— In 1852 the Democrats 
nominated Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire and WiUiam R. 
King of Alabama. The Whigs nominated General Winfield Scott, 
of Virginia, the fourth military hero put in nomination for the 
Presidency since 1828. By a large majority the election resulted 
in favor of the Democratic candidates. 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. When the rush for California began in 1849, there were three available 
routes to the ''land of promise." One was overland by wagon trains and ox- 
carts, through "bad lands" and subject all the while to the attacks of hostile 
Indians. Another route was by sea to Panama, across the Isthmus and up the 
western coast. The third and longest was by sea around Cape Horn. 

2. As a schoolboy, the writer of this book greatly enjoyed an historical 
novel called, "The Boy Emigrants." This novel or any interesting books 
describing frontier life might be suggested at this point. 

3. People living in the east frequently have little conception of the vast- 
ness of the various western acquisitions, or of the size of the western States. 
The map should always be consulted when these acquisitions are under dis- 
cussion. In fact, throughout the course maps should be frequently in evidence. 
In the class room the author would, for brevity and emphasis, frequently 
refer to a trio of adverbs of similar sound and sense: Who, When, and 
Where; and sometimes also Why. 

* Webster died under a cloud of disfavor in his own section, on account 
of his later expressions on sectional issues. He was accused of playing for 
political support (see Whittier's poem "Ichabod"), but the charge is unjust. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

Administration of Franklin Pierce, 1853-1857: The Know- 

NoTHiNG OR American Party; Rise of The 

Republican Party 

187. The Sectional and Political Struggle for Kansas and the 
West. — The compromise of 1850 did not end the struggle between 
Popular sov- the North and the South for the control of territory yet 
pSid for^'t'?; to be formed into States. In 1854 Congress passed 
territories ^^ ^^^ ^^^ Organizing the territories of Kansas and 
Nebraska, both of which were north of the line of the Missouri 
compromise, where slavery had been prohibited. The Kansas- 
Nebraska bill, as it was called, provided that the decision as to 
free or slave labor should be left to the people of the territories.^ 

At once it was seen that there must follow a struggle for the 
control of the new countrj^ No effort was made by the South to 
Southern set- sccurc Nebraska; but Kansas was immediately adjacent 
grants to Missouri, and slaveholders from that State began to 

take possession. Many of these were bona fide settlers; others 
Came in armed bands and committed many outrages. These 
were called "border ruffians" by both honest ''free State" men 
and by those equally lawless in opposition to them. 

i It was claimed that this line had already been disregarded or done 
away with by reason of the admission of the whole of California as "free 
soil" in 1850; although the parallel of 36° 30' had originally applied only to 
the Louisiana purchase. The whole of Kansas, the Dakotas, together with 
such portions of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado as lay east of the Rocky 
Mountains, were at first included in the territory of Nebraska. The doctrine 
of "popular sovereignty" (frequently called "squatter" sovereignty), sup- 
ported chiefly by Senator Stephen A. Douglas, split the Democratic party, 
one division maintaining that the decision as to slave or free labor should be 
made only after the territory had framed a constitution. 
252 



THE SUMNER-BROOKS AFFAIR 



253 




The proximity of Missouri to the Kansas border was, however, 
offset by the energy of the aboHtion societies in the North, which 
equipped emigrants with money, suppUes, and munitions of war.^ 
Settlers from either section went prepared for partisan settlers and 
warfare. The factions settled in different parts of the Fro'm'^ th*l 
territory and organized rival governments. Conflict ^"""^^ 
and bloodshed followed. One territorial governor after another 
resigned or was forced from office by the 
Bloodshed terrorism and outlawry in which 
both sides participated in about equal measure, 
although the cold-blooded massacre of five 
settlers at Pottawottomie Creek by a band 
of ''free State" men under the leadership 
of John Brown and his sons, was the most 
notorious crime of the struggle.-^ 

188. The Siimner=Brooks Affair in the 
United States Senate. — The Kansas troubles 
were echoed in an unhappy fashion in the 
United States Senate in May, 1856. Senator 
Sumner of Massachusetts, in the course of a 
violent speech on ''The Crime against Kan- 
sas," made abusive remarks about Senator 
Butler, then critically ill at his home in South 
Carolina. Senator Butler's nephew, Preston 
S. Brooks, a Representative from South Caro- 
lina, sought Senator Sumner in vain for 
apology or retraction. Finally, he waited for 
him in the Senate chamber. After a verbal 
warning. Brooks struck Sumner over the head with an ordinary 

2 The latter included quantities of Springfield rifles, known as "Beecher's 
Bibles," from the name of the popular orator-preacher and abolitionist, Henry 
Ward Beecher, a brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe. 

3 The bodies of the murdered men were mutilated even after death. John 
Brown was no more a bona fide settler than were the border ruffians of Missouri. 
Both had come temporarily into the territory to control the form of its pro- 
posed constitution. Kansas finally entered the Union as a free State in 1861. 



FRANKLIN PIERCE 

Born Hillsboro, N. H., 
Nov. 23, 1804. Entered 
into campaign in support 
of Andrew Jackson, 1S2S; 
member of N. H. legisla- 
ture, 1829.; elected to Con- 
gress in 1832 and in 1834; 
elected to U. S. senate in 
1836, resigning 1842; 
served with distinction 
under Scott in war with 
Mexico; elected President 
1852, serving one term; as 
President gave support to 
southern contentions in 
political struggle of that 
time; declared for the 
Union and the support of 
Lincoln's administration in 
1861. Died 1869. 



254 ADMINISTRATION OF FRANKLIN PIERCE 

gutta-percha walking cane. Sumner was a very large man, and 
as he attempted to shield himself from Brooks's blows, he wrenched 
his desk loose and fell to the floor dazed and bleeding. The inci- 
dent, magnified and misrepresented in both sections, created addi- 
tional irritation between North and South, and contributed its 
share to promote the irrepressible conflict that was now hastening 
to open rupture."^ 

189. Formation of Political Parties along New Lines. — The 
single term of President Pierce saw the rise of two political parties, 
one of which had a short-lived existence, while the other grew 
rapidly to great influence and power. 

The former was the "Know-nothing" or American party, which 
originated in objections to the easy naturalization of foreigners 
The "Know- ^ud their increasing power in pohtics. The principal 
A°m eTi'c an rallying cry of this party was, ''Put none but Americans 
party ^^ guard " ; nevertheless, when its adherents were 

questioned about its pohcies, their reply was, ''I know nothing,'' 
whence the party derived its unusual name. The party first 
attracted attention in the eastern cities and was successful in 
carrjHng several States. It then dropped some of its peculiar 
secrecy of character and called itself the ''American" party. Its 

4 Sumner's physician reported that the Senator was physically not in- 
capacitated for attendance at the Senate the next day; but he seems to have 
suffered severely from the effects of the assault. Except for a few days in 
December, 1857, after his re-election, he did not again attend the sessions of 
the Senate until the autumn of 1859. In spite of the fact that Boston and 
Washington newspapers published good contemporaneous accounts of the 
affair, in the discussion of the incident all temperance was cast aside. The 
speech of Senator Sumner contained many indecencies of expression; but 
Brooks's conduct in the United States Senate is not defensible even on the 
basis of the old-fashioned "code of honor," under which a man who does not 
reply to a personal challenge must be whipped in the presence of those who 
heard the insulting remarks; Cass of Michigan and other Senators strongly 
rebuked Sumner for his "un-American and unpatriotic speech." Brooks was 
censured by the majority of members of the House. He resigned from Con- 
gress, but was re-elected . Unhappily, both men at once became obj ects of unqual- 
ified eulogy in their respective States, whereas it now seems clear that both the 
language of the one and the conduct of the other were equally reprehensible. 




PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS OF 1856 255 

membership was drawn largely from the Whigs, the latter being 
finally absorbed in it and in the Republican party, which was 
formed at about the same time; although many of the Whigs, 
especially in the south, united with the Democrats. 

The Republican party owed its origin to a determination on 
the part of the opponents of slavery in the north that no more 
slave States should be admitted to the Union, and that The Repub- 
slavery should be treated by the Federal government as ^''''''^ "^^^^^ 
a local institution having no legal status outside the boundaries 
of the States in which it was established. This issue became well 
defined after the struggle over the Kansas- 
Nebraska bill. On that account its adherents 
were called "Anti-Nebraska men," and they 
succeeded in electing a number of represent- '■■ ■ , 

atives in Congress in the elections of 1854. ^- ' 

These representatives were elected chiefly 
from the northwestern States, where this 
political movement saw rapid growth and 
where its adherents began to be called 
Republicans. 

190. Presidential Elections of 1856.-In B^rNeTvorT/TpH, 
the presidential elections of 1856, three parties |\4i,^''^ab Jacfrnofe/espe: 
were in the field: Democratic, RepubUcan, r.\ii"^;eh Bo^o^;'^°Ltes o1 
and American or Know-nothing. Their can- ^'jS'on' Spa'n'^a^ndMo?- 
didates were, in the order given above: James DifcJ" ^Ta^rytownr'^N.^^ y!; 
Buchanan of Pennsylvania and John C. Breck- iso9. 
inridge of Kentucky; John C. Fremont of California and William 
L. Dayton of New Jersey; ex-President Millard Fillmore of New 
York and Andrew H. Donelson of Tennessee.^ The American 
party made a weak showing in this election and shortly there- 
after vanished from view. The young Republican party made 

5 A portion of the American party nominated Commodore Stockton for 
President, while those abolitionists who believed in political activity nominated 
Gerrit Smith of New York and Frederick Douglass, formerly a negro slave, 
born in Maryland. These candidates, however, received no electoral votes. 




256 ADMINISTRATION OF FRANKLIN PIERCE 

the exclusion of slavery from the territories its principal issue. 
The candidates of the RepubUcan party were from the North, 
and the membership of that party was confined almost wholly 
to the northern States. Southern leaders threatened secession, 
should such a party succeed in carrying the elections, and the 
fear of disunion doubtless influenced many northern voters to 
cast their ballots for the Democratic candidates. Fillmore car- 
ried one State, Maryland; the Republicans carried eleven States, 
all in the North; Buchanan carried the remainder and was elected, 
together with a Democratic majority in Congress. 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Some months before Sumner's speech on Kansas, Garrison had publicly 
burned a copy of the Constitution in an open-air celebration of abolitionists 
at Framingham, Mass. Some of the spectators hissed the act, while his fol- 
lowers applauded it; but the majority of the people of Massachusetts either 
disapproved of Garrison's attitude or openly denounced the extreme abolition- 
ist doctrines. Nevertheless, public sentiment grew in favor of the efforts to 
prevent the execution of the Fugitive Slave Law; and United States marshals, 
sworn to execute Federal enactments, informed the abohtionists of the arrival 
of runaway slaves, so that the latter might not be apprehended. 

2. From the southern side, the political aspects of the case in reference 
to the extension of slavery were presented in the United States Senate by 
Jefferson Davis in 1858: "A man not knowing into what presence he was 
introduced, coming into this chamber, might, for a large part of this session, 
have supposed that here stood the representatives of belligerent States; and 
that instead of men assembled here to confer together for the common welfare, 
for the general good, he saw here ministers from States preparing to make war 
upon each other. . . . Sir, we are arraigned day after day as the aggres- 
sive power. What southern senator during this whole session has attacked 
any portion or any interest of the North? . . . Why should we care 
whether they [the slaves] go into other territories or not? Simply because of 
the war that is made against our institutions; simply because of the want of 
security which results from the action of our opponents in the northern States. 
. . . You have made it a political war. We are on the defensive. How 
far are you to push us?" Cf. Sec. 193. 

3. It is not, perhaps, fair to the memory of Senator Sumner and Repre- 
sentative Brooks to give the impression that theirs was the only chish in the 
halls of Congress during these exciting times. There were many others, 
some of which led to the menacing display of firearms. 



CHAPTER XXVII 




Administration of James Buchanan, 1857-1861: The Dred 

Scott Decision; Lincoln^Douglas Debates; John 

Brown's Raid 

_L91. The Dred Scott Decision. — In 1857 a decision of the 
United States Supreme Court aroused much heated discussion. 
A negro slave, Dred Scott by name, sued for his freedom in the 
Federal courts on the grounds that his master 
had carried him into the free State of Illinois, 
and also into territory (now Minnesota) where 
slavery was forbidden under the Missouri 
Compromise. Chief Justice Taney handed 
down the decision of the court to the effect 
, ^^ , that a negro slave was not legally a citizen 

l^H^ ' \> ^^ ^^^ United States, and could not, there- 
^B^^^^^ fore, bring suit in the Federal courts. The 
^^^^^ court also declared that since the Constitution 

recognized and sanctioned slavery. Congress 
could not exclude slaves from any territory 
controlled by the United States. This deci- 
sion virtually declared unconstitutional the 
principal plank in the platform of the Repub- 
lican party, the leaders of which denounced 
the decision and declared that they would not 
abide by it. 

192. The Atlantic Cable. — A severe disturb- 
ance or depression in business and financial 
circles in 1857 was followed in 1858 by a 
notable triumph of American inventive genius, in the laying of 
the first Atlantic cable from Newfoundland to Ireland. Matthew 
Fontaine Maury, superintendent of the Naval Observatory at 
17 257 



A 



JAMES BUCHANAN 

Born Franklin County 
Pa., April 23, 1791 
Federalist supporter of 
War of 1S12; elected leg- 
islature of Pennsylvania, 
1814; electe d Congress, 
1820; in diplomatic service 
under President Jackson; 
elected to U. S. Senate in 
1833; Secretary of State 
under Polk; minister to 
Great Britain under Pierce ; 
elected President, 1856, 
serving one term; denied 
the alleged right to seces- 
sion and also that of com- 
pelling States to remain in 
the Union; ultimately .sup- 
ported Lincoln's adminis- 
tration. Died 1868. 




258 ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES BUCHANAN 

Washington, prepared the plan, and Cyrus W. Field, an energetic 
merchant of New York, pushed the work to completion.^ 

193. The Lincoln=Douglas Debates. — Politically, the year 1858 
was momentous in bringing to general notice a hitherto almost 
unkno^vn western lawyer, Abraham Lincoln. He was brought 
^ , forward by the Republicans of Illinois in con- 

^' ~^fek. ^^^^ ^^\\)^ Stephen A. Douglas for the United 

M 9B States Senate. Joint debates were held by 
fl^ -^gfei^ ^^ the two candidates in an extended campaign, 
1 %^ ^P which resulted in the election of Douglas. On 
the question of the extension of slavery, how- 
ever, Lincoln forced his opponent to make 
certain admissions which ultimately alienated 
from Douglas many of his supporters, split 
MATTHEW FONTAINE thc Democratlc party, and, two years later, 
Born spoulyivania ©nabled Liucolu himsdf to attain the greater 
fsT'^fen'Ired u!^s!?avy: P^^^^ ^f the Presidency. 

Si obs^er;a?or.v°f844- Liucolu's position ou the political and 
irtVadi''wind?lnd^ocea°n ^^o^al aspccts of the slavery problem was at 
currents and other imppr- the Same time both radical and conservative. 

tant laws oi nature; with 

Humboldt, considered the JJ^ WaS OppOSed tO slavery in any Lincoln's 
greatest scientist oi his ^^ ^ viewson 

time; served under South- place Or f Orm I but he WaS CQUally slavery 
ern Confederacy; after-i^^ ' IJ 

War of Secession, refused opposcd to violcut interference with the insti- 

a palace otiered by the ^ ^ 

Emperor of Russia and the tutiou whcre it was already in existence. Like 

r r e s 1 d e n c y of h rench '^ 

Academy of Sciences; ac- Thomas Jcffcrson and Benjamin Franklin, he 

cepted position as instruc- '' ' 

tor in a war-impoverished ^as an emancipationist, but he likewise be- 

mihtary school in his ^ ' 

native State. Died 1873. Ueved that the slaveholder had definite rights 
under the Constitution of the United States. On the other hand, he 
took a definite and determined stand against the alleged right of 
the slaveholder to extend the institution of slavery into territory yet 
to be created into new States. From such territory he maintained 

1 Although the cable, on account of some defects, was not immediately 
put into operation, entire success followed a few years later. '' Maury furnished 
the brains, England gave the money, and I did the work," said Field after the 
completion of the cable. 



ATTEMPT TO INCITE INSURRECTION 259 

that the slaveholder should be forever excluded. In his debates 
with Douglas, Lincoln declared that: ''A house divided against 
itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure per- 
manently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be 
dissolved. I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will 
cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. 
Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, 
and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it 
is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it 
forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the States." 

Lincoln was born in the South and knew a great deal about 
conditions in that section. He held views on the subject of slavery 
and gradual emancipation that might have enabled him success- 
fully to cooperate with the emancipationists of the South in the 
peaceful settlement of the problem that differentiated the sections 
and created so many conflicting interests.^ Lincoln's grasp of 
conditions was national in that he understood the situation in 
which the South was placed by the violence of the extreme aboli- 
tionists in the North, and he openly disclaimed all association 
with their acts or their agitation. 

194. John Brown's Attempt to Incite a Servile Insurrection, 
1859. — This increasing agitation, however, led to a direct assault 

2 Although a series of protective tariffs had proved a burdensome and 
disproportionate tax upon the non-manufacturing southern States, the 
active issue forced upon them was the consideration of negro slavery. Since 
the supporters of legislation objectionable to the South were as a rule opposed 
to slavery, many of the southern leaders began to feel that the political 
future of their section depended upon the extension of that institution. A 
new slave State would favor low tariff or free trade, while a new free State 
would be likely to give additional power to the forces of high protection. 
The issue was very much like that presented in 1803 and 1845 when New 
England opposed territorial expansion in the southwest. The New England 
leaders, like the southerners in later times, feared loss of political power and 
legislation inimical to local interests. 

The tariff was lowered in 18.57, immediately after which there arose in north- 
ern manufacturing communities a strong demand for the former high duties. 
This demand found expression in fresh protective tariff legislation early in 1S61. 



2C0 



ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES BUCHANAN 



upon the South, and a concerted effort by some of the aboUtionists 
to organize a general insurrection among the slaves of the southern 
States. The active leader of this movement was John Brown, 
already notorious for deeds of violence in Kansas. He passed 
United through western Maryland and selected Harper's Ferry 

States arse- . ^^. . . , . . ^ . . ^_. , , '^ 

nai at Harp- m Virgmia as his pomt of mvasion. He brought arms 
seized of various kinds, including iron pikes, for the arming of a 

thousand or more slaves. After first killing a negro porter who re- 
fused to join them, Brown, with his sons and associates, on the night 





i 



BIRTHPLACE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, HARDIN COUNTY, KENTUCKY; NOW THE 
SITE OF A GREAT MEMORIAL BUILDING. 

of October 16, 1859, seized the United States arsenal at Harper's 
Ferry, and captured a number of citizens, whom he held as hostages. 
Although the negroes of the neighborhood were acquainted 
with Brown's plans by means of emissaries who had secretly gone 
through the country, there was no disposition whatever on the 
part of the slaves to rise in insurrection, and the arsenal was soon 
surrounded by indignant citizens. The following day a detachment 
Brown cap- of United States marines, under command of Colonel 

t u r e d and 

hanged Robert E. Lee, arrived on the scene. The old abo- 

litionist defended his position with desperate courage, and only 
after he had been wounded and several of his men had been shot 




m^ 



PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1860 261 

down, was he captured, together with six of his companions. In 
the course of the fighting a number of citizens were killed. Brown 
was tried in the Virginia courts and convicted of conspiracy, 
treason, and murder. He was hanged at 
Charles Town, Virginia (now West Virginia), 
December 2, 1859.^ 

195. Presidential Campaign and Election ISb^^A'W^I 
of I860.— In May, 1860, the Republican con- 
vention met at Chicago, and, to the surprise of 
almost everyone, nominated Abraham Lincoln 
Republicans foi" President instead of William H. 
Lincoln'' and Scward of Ncw York , who had been 

Hamlin ^^ ^^ ^j^^^. ^-^^^ ^j^^ mOSt HOtcd 

leader of the party. Hannibal Hamlin of ^- «• prescott 
Maine was selected as the Republican candi- 4, ^{796^^ E^'u^c^ted^a^ 

1 . p 17- -n • 1 , Harvard; noted for the 

date tor VlCe-r resident. charm and vivid portrayal 

In April the Democratic convention had "s ^his'^ '^Ferdinand' ^and 
met at Charleston, S. C. Almost immediately MeS'" '*c?n"qTe1t oS 
division occurred, the majority of the dele- ^^^"'" ^*" ^^^^ '"''• 
gates, especially those from the North, declaring for Douglas 
and the doctrine of popular sovereignty in respect to g'^j,^\.^'jj° 

slavery in the territories: but most of the southern party; one 
•^ ' faction sup- 

delegates insisted on the protection of slavery in the ports Doug- 
territories until they were ready to frame constitutions Breckinridge 
and declare themselves for slavery or for free soil. No selection 

3 No one prominent in political life in the North seems to have been directly 
concerned with this proposed servile insurrection, but a number of well-known 
abolitionists contributed money or supplies. The most noted of these was 
Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a man afterwards distinguished for his public- 
spirited interest in many good enterprises. The majority of the northern 
people heartily disapproved of John Brown's course. Lincoln condemned it. 
Yet such was the almost incredible intensity of feeling in those times (based 
as it so largely was on misunderstanding and ignorance) that many preachers 
extolled Brown as a martyr. The distinguished philosopher and author, 
Ralph Waldo Emerson, declared: "The new saint will make the gallows 
glorious hke the cross." 



2C2 ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES BUCHANAN 

of candidates was made at Charleston, and the convention 
adjourned to meet at Baltimore in June. At Baltimore, the 
convention again divided and some of the delegates withdrew. 
Those that remained nominated Stephen A. Douglas and 
Herschel V. Johnson of Georgia. Those who withdrew 
nominated John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky and Joseph H. 
Lane of Oregon. 

In the meantime, a fourth nomination was made by the '^Con- 
The Consti- stltutioual Uniou " party, which simply stated that it 
Union %arty stood for ''The Constitution of the country, the Union 
Beii"in(fEv- of the Statcs, and the enforcement of the laws." This 
^""^^ party nominated John Bell of Tennessee and Edward 

Everett of Massachusetts. 

The campaign that followed was warmly contested. The 
Lincoln and Republican party alone presented a united front, and 
elected lincolu and Hamlin received a majority of the electoral 

vote — 180 against 72 for Breckinridge and Lane, 39 for Bell and 
Everett, and 12 for Douglas and Johnson.^ 

196. General Review of the Growth of the Country. — Before en- 
tering on the period of sectional war, it is important to get a general 
Growth chiefly vicw of couditious at this time throughout the country. 

in the North- i i • • ^ i ,1 11 

ern States Smcc the bcgmmng of the century great changes had 
been brought about through agencies already touched upon, such 
as canals, railroads, steamboats, and the telegraph. Immigration 
and manufactures in the north had greatly changed the life of 
the people there. In the south the changes had been less marked; 
with some exceptions, chiefly in the border States, the cities 
had not greatly increased in size and the people lived largely in 
the country. Manufacturing was almost unknown throughout 
the southern States. 

Besides the great investigations and discoveries of Maury in 
the realm of geography American inventive genius was busily at 

* The popular vote, in round numbers, was: Lincoln, 1,800.000; Douglas, 
1,300,000; Breckinridge, 800,000; Bell, .600,000. 



J 



GENERAL REVIEW OF GROWTH OF COUNTRY 263 




work in other directions also. In 1831 Cyrus McCormick, a Vir- 
ginia farmer, invented the reaper, which revolutionized the 
Invention mcthods of whcat harvesting and 

and discov- , . , • i • c i 

cries which. Within a few years, made 

the middle west the granary of America. In 
1842 Dr. Crawford W. Long, of Georgia, 
first successfully experimented with ether in 
surgical operations. In 1844 Charles Good- 
year, a native of Connecticut, secured an im- 
portant patent on vulcanized rubber, although 
he had devised improvements in the manu- 
facture of rubber as early as 1836. In 1846 
Elias Howe, a mechanic of Massachusetts, 
patented the sewing machine. These inven- 
tions were but the forerunners of innume- 
rable others which were soon to follow in 
an astonishing succes- 
sion that has never 
been broken. 

Toward the middle of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, American literary productiveness passed 
beyond its earlier Hmits, and a number of 
writers appeared whose originality and power 
were recognized at home and abroad. Already 
J. Fenimore Cooper had written his stories 
of Indian life; Benjamin Franklin's WTitings 
had been widely welcomed ; Washington 
Irving had become recognized as a master 
of prose description; and William Cullen 
of Virginia; excelled as short Bryant, beginning with Thanatopsis at 

story writer and as poet, ^700 i 

howing, in both forms of ^hc agc of eighteen, was the earliest of a 
notable group of New,^, England poets, 
novelists, historians, and essayists, among 
whom are found the familiar names of John Greenleaf 
Whittier, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poets; Ralph Waldo 




NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE 

Born Salem, Mass., July 
4, 1804, of Puritan ances- 
try. Educated at Bow- 
doin College; excelled as a 
novelist; noted for excep- 
tional powers of observa- 
tion, careful analysis, and 
originality of thought. 
Died Plymouth, New 
Hampshire, May 19, 1864. 



EDGAR ALLAN POE 

Born Boston, Jan. 19, 
1809, of English and Mary- 
land descent; raised in 
Richmond and educated in 
England and at University 



authorship, brilliant orig 
inality of conception and 
presentation. Died Balti- 
more, Oct. 7, 1849. 



264 ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES BUCHANAN 

Emerson, James Russell Lowell, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, 
essayists and poets; and Nathaniel Hawthorne, novelist. Among 
historians the most prominent names are 
those of W. H. Prescott, George Bancroft, 
and John Lothrop Motley. Besides these, 
and at odds with the New England school 
during his stormy life, was the original 
genius, Edgar Allan Poe, poet and master 
of the short story. The southern States 
produced a number of writers whose works, 
while not so widely read, are indispens- 
HENRT wADswoRTH ablc to the study and understanding of 

LONGFELLOW . i i 1 j. A 1 

Born Portland, Me., Feb. lormcr times and thought. Among these 

27, 1807. Educated Bow- t-\ • i -r» a n j. t it i xj. 

doin College; also studied are David Ramsay, Albert J. Pickett, 

abroad; professor at Bow- ,,— , i /^ , y r^ rn i i • 

doin and at Harvard; Charles (jrayarrc, and Cjeorge iucker, nis- 

issued first volume of . -ttt-ii- r~^.•^ ci* t i -r» 

poems, 1839; soon gained toriaus; William uilmore feimms. John P. 

a place as a poet of wide 

popularity, appealing very Kennedy, AugUSta EvaUS 

powerfully to the young. 

i>ied 1882. Wilsou, uovelists; Mat- 

thew Fontaine Maury, scientist; and John 
James Audubon, naturalist. ". ^^^^ 




SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 



V*i 



1. In some respects ante-bellum expressions of 
Abraham Lincoln and of Alexander H. Stephens 
(afterwards Vice-President of the Confederate States) 
sound like echoes of each other. Lincoln said : 
"There is a physical difference between the white 

and the black races which will forever forbid the ^^^^^ ^^^^° emerson 
two races living together on terms of social and po- , ono^'"^ i?j°^*°?' . ^^^ '^h 

y ^ 1803. Educated Havard 

litical equality. And, inasmuch as they cannot so College; studied for the 
live, while they do remain together, there must be ^veraf^ pTstorates;^ re^ 
the position of superior and inferior; and I, as much ^}i^^^ ^T°™ ministry in 

^ . ^, . , 1832; noted as philosopher, 

as any other man, am in favor of having the superior essayist, and poet. Died 
position assigned to the white race." oncor , 

Stephens asserted at about the same time: "Equality does not exist be- 
tween blacks and whites. The one race is inferior in many respects, physically 
and mentally, to the other. This should be received as a fixed invincible fact 
in all dealings with the subject." 




SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 265 

Between the views of these two leaders, there was this important difference, 
however, that Lincoln favored all proper legal processes or moral persuasion 
to abolish African slavery, while Stephens frankly advocated it as the best 
condition for the undeveloped negro race. It is easily conceivable that, if the 
two men had exchanged places, their views might have changed also. 

2. Minnesota and Oregon were admitted into the L^nion in 1858 and 1859, 
adding thereby very greatly to the growing political preponderance of the 
North. 

3. Should you care to add any names to the list of American inventors 
and authors mentioned in Sec. 196? Among the latter, southern students 
might wish to include, as having begun their work at about the close of the 
period mentioned: Henry Timrod, Paul H. Hayne, Sidney Lanier, and per- 
haps the war poets, James R. Randall and Abram J. Ryan, or they might 
wish to include the later novelists. Western students would be most likely 
to mention Bret Harte, John Hay, Eugene Field, Samuel Clemens (Mark 
Twain) and others. Students from the middle and eastern States could readily 
add to the list of noted authors mentioned in this chapter. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

Administration of Abraham Lincoln: First Term, 1861-1885; 

The War of Secession — The Federal Government vs. 

The Southern Confederacy; Campaigns of 1881 

197. Secession of Seven Southern States, 1860-1861.— Al- 
though the Repubhcan party did not gain entire control of the 
legislative branch of the Federal government in the election of 
1860, the southern secession movement, threatened in previous 
elections, was now begun in earnest. South Carolina called a 
convention, which met on the 17th of December, 1860, and on 
the 20th of the same month passed an ordinance of secession to 
dissolve the Union "under the compact entitled the Constitution 
of the United States of America." This action of South Carolina 
was followed earl}^ in 1861 by similar ordinances of secession in 
Mississippi, January 9; Florida, January 10; Alabama, January 
11; Georgia, January 19; Louisiana, January 26; and Texas, 
February 1. Here the secession movement halted, and the other 
southern States that later joined the Confederacy did not do so 
until the Federal government announced that it would use force 
to compel the seceded States to return to the Union. 

The doctrine of secession has been discussed in the preceding 
pages; for that question had presented itself for consideration at 
The consti- several stages of Federal growth and expansion.^ It is 
sue'°oTieceS- ^ow important to understand how the exercise of the 
^^°^ alleged right to secede was received in the South, why 

it was advocated by some and opposed by others; how it was 
received at the North, and why there should have been in that 
section widely different views as to the proper course for the 
Federal government to pursue. 

1 Sections 118, 134, 154, 178. 
266 




THE NORTH AND THE COTTON STATES 2G7 

Those who advocated secession asserted that the rights of 
the South under the Constitution had not been respected in the 
North. This, they asserted, was evidenced by the pas- Reasons for 
sage of the ^'personal hberty" laws in defiance of Con- The'fo^l'i 
gress and the Constitution, and by the open hostiUty of ^"^^^^ 
a growing minority of the northern people. It was asserted that 
under the circumstances the two sections could not live together 
in harmon}^; that the elections had brought about the triumph of 
the Republicans, who denounced the decision of the Supreme 
Court in reference to the constitutionahty of slavery in the ter- 
ritories. It was further argued that a wholly sectional majority 
would, without effective hindrance, pass even more burdensome 
tariff laws; and that for fifty years under high tariffs the agricul- 
tural South had been exploited to enrich the manufacturing North 
without receiving an}^ of the benefits of the system of import 
duties. Hence, it was now time to separate from the North by 
the use of the right of withdrawal reserved to the States when 
they consented to join the Union. 

On the other hand, there was a minority in the far South who 
wished at least to postpone secession, if not to prevent it altogether. 
This minority was led by Alexander H. Stephens, of opposition 
Georgia, afterwards elected Vice-President of the South- f" the'^ToTe^ 
ern Confederacy. Stephens argued that the grievances ^°"*^ 
of the South could be redressed within the Union. The anti- 
secession party was outvoted, however; and Stephens went with 
his State, as he had always said he would, since he believed that 
the State ''had never parted with her right to command the 
ultimate allegiance of her citizens." 

198. How the Secession of the Cotton States Was Regarded 
in the North. — In the North there was a great deal of doubt and 
indecision. Although Webster's eloquent setting forth of the 
theory of an indissoluble Union had gained adherents, the legis- 
lature of Massachusetts had as late as 1845 avowed the right of 
secession, when that State was opposing the annexation of Texas. 
Consequently, in New England there were many who could not 



26S ADMIXISTRATIOX OF ABRAHAM LIXCOLX 

consistently opjwse what they themselves had recentty advocated. 
In the North there were reallj- three widely divergent views as 
Tki^ views to secession: the first was. in effect that the rip:ht of 

of secesaon 

in the North secession had always existed and that no attempt should 
be made to force the seceding States back into the Union against 
their will. The upholders of this theory- did not beheve that a 
Union ''pinned together with bayonets" could possibly last. To 
this division of those opposed to coercion may be added such 
abolitionists as had themselves declared for disunion, because 
they wished to have no partnership \^-ith the upholders of slaver>'.- 

The second \'iew, represented b}^ President Buchanan, de- 
clared that the right of secession did not exist, but denied that 
the Federal government had the right to coerce the secechng 
States into returning to the Union. This party was in power 
when the Cotton States seceded. 

A third di\-ision, and one that ultimately' was to shape tKe 
destinies of the country, was led by Abraham Lincoln, who mod- 
eled his \-iews upon the earher opinion of Webster and in accord- 
ance with the sentiment of his predecessor, Andrew Jackson — 
"The Union, it mast be preser\'ed." Lincoln wished to preser\'e 
the L'nion. and was ready, like Jackson, to ase the resources of 
the Federal government to maintain it by force, if need be. He 
set aside the question of slavery and declared that it was not 
his purpose to interfere with it where it already existed. He 
ardently hoped for peace; but he would use force to maintain 
the L'nion. 

199. Formation of the Southern Confederacy, 1861. — In 
the meantime, at Montgomerj^, Alabama, delegates from the 

2 So, at first, thought Horace Greelej^, the editor of the New York Tribune, 
then considered the most influential American newspaper. He endorsefl the 
sentiment: "Let our erring .sisters depart in peace." Many noted pulpit 
orators, such as Theodore Parker and Henry Ward Beecher, agreed vsith this 
expression of opinion. James Rus-sell Lowell had, some time before, expressed 
the same idea in the Biglow Papers. Such was the intensity of fechng on 
the part of the extreme abolitionists that many of them openly declared that 
the Union should be dissolved, the sooner the better. 



EFFORTS AT COMPROMISE 269 

seceding States had taken steps to organize a cCTitral govern- 
ment. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was elected President 
and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, Mce-President. ^ . -- 
under a constitution similar to that of the United 
States. Protective tariffs and governmental bounties -i-^-^^ 
were, however, expressly forbidden. President and Mce-President 
were to serve for six years, and were to be ineligible for re-election. 
The sovereignty of the States was explicitly recognized. 

200 . Efforts at Compromise, 1861. — ^While the Confederate 
government was being organized at ^lontgomery. and while the 
Federal government at Washington was temporizing and await- 
ing the change of administr2.tion from Buchanan to Lincoln. 
patriotic lovers of the Union were meeting at the Federal capital 
in an endeavor to arrange compromises between the sections and 
to restore the Union. Tx-ithout an appeal to force. Senator Crit- 
tenden of Kentucky proposed a constitutional amendment restor- 
ing the ^lissouri compromise and proposed also a less objection::ble 
fugitive slave law: but the Republicans, who now had a majoriry 
in Congress, since the withdrawal of the southern members, re- 
fused to consider these measures. Mrginia now came forward, and, 
as in 17S6. when the Com'ederation was in jeopardy. Pe.ce «»- 
proposed that the States send ddegates to a gMieial ^^^^ 
conference. Twenty-one States responded. ex-President Tyler 
was chosen the presiding officer, and the delegates continued to 
hold sessions in Washington throughout February. ISCl: but 
none of the recommendations submitted to Congress by this ' 
was accepted, and the com'erence failed to accc«nplLsh any*—:.,:. 

As fast as the Cotton States seceded, their R^resentatives 
and Senators in Congress formally withdrew from that Kxiy. 
Vessels plied between northern and southern ports fi^-ing the Star? 
and Stripes at one end and the Confederate flag at the 
other. Commissioners were app>ointed by the Com'ed- 
erate States to negotiate a treat\- with the Federal government, 
and it seemed to many that two governments were to be estr-b- 
lished. one comp>osed of the seven Cotton States, and tlje other 



270 ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

comprising the northern States, together with the eight southern 
States of Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri. 

201. Inaugural Addresses of Davis and Lincoln. — In the latter 
part of February, 1861, Jefferson Davis delivered his inaugural ad- 
dress as President of the States that had then 
seceded. On March 4 Abraham Lincoln took 
the oath of office as President of the United 
States. In his inaugural address he pj e s i d e n t 

I XT • Lincoln s po- 

declared that the Union was older sition 
than the Constitution and the States, that the 
right of secession did not exist, and that the 
Federal government could properly use force 
to bring a seceding State back into the L^nion. 
The President also pledged himself and the 
Republican party not to interfere with slavery 
wherever it already existed. A portion of the 
inaugural address referred to a matter which 

tefed^Vj^ngS'isle- re- evcutually led to the opening of hostilities. 

signed and served With xhis was the holding of Federal forts within 

distinction in Mexican war • ° 

under Taylor; entered U.S. the COUfinCS of the SCCCdcd StatCS. LiuCOlu 
benate in lS47-18ol; as 

secretary of war under stated his pUrpOSC tO hold thcSC fortS and tO 
r'lerce, successtully reor- ^ ^ 

ganized and enlarged the ''collcct the dutics and iuiports." His position 

army and had surveys ^ ^ 
made for a transconti- qU this QUestioU SCCmcd clcarly dc- Contradic- 
nental railroad; re-elected ^ ^ tory action 
to the Senate in 1856, and fined at this date; nevertheless, the of the Fed- 
served until the secession ' ' eral govern- 
niovement carried Missis- Federal gOVCmment or the cabinet ment 
sippi out of the Union; ^ 

after acting as provisional officcrs stiU hcsitatcd, promising the Confed- 

executive, was inaugurated • ^ '^ 

President of Southern Con- eratc commissiouers from time to time that 

federacy, 1862; captured 

and imprisoned under in- the fortS WOUld bc glvCU Up, the last of thcSC 




JEFFERSON DAVIS 

Born in Christian (pres 
ent Todd) County, Ky. 
June 3, 1808. Was gradu- 
ated ai West Point, 1828; 
resigned from army and 



dictment for treason, 1865- 

1867; released on bail and promiscs bciug made by Sccrctarv Seward to 

never brought to trial. ^ o ^ ^ 

^ied 1889 Justice Campbell of the United States Supreme 

Court as late as April 8. On that date Secretary Seward wrote: 
''Faith as to Sumter fully kept — wait and see." On the same day 
a message was received at Charleston informing Governor Pickens 
that President Lincoln purposed sending provisions to Fort Sumter. 



BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER 



271 



202. Bombardment of Fort Sumter, April 12, 1861. — As war 

vessels, supplies, and men were on the way from New York, Pres- 
ident Davis accepted this proceeding as an act of war. Accord- 
ingly, Major Robert Anderson, in command of Fort Sumter, was 
called upon to surrender the fort. He refused, and on the r2thof 
April, 1861, the date of the arri- 
val off Charleston of the Federal 
fleet, Sumter was bombarded by 
General P. G. T. Beauregard, in 
command of the Confederate 
forces at that point. On the 
following day, Anderson, after a 
gallant but hopeless defense, 
surrendered, and his small com- 
mand of less than 100 men was 
permitted to march out with the 
honors of war. The Federal 
fleet outside Charleston harbor 
took no part in the combat. 

From the Confederate point 
of view, the sending of arms and 
supplies to Sumter in April was 
not the first such act of war on 
the part of the Federal authori- 
ties. Supplies and reinforce- 
ments had been sent to Sumter 
during Buchanan's administra- 
tion in the steamer 
Star of the West. The 
vessel was fired upon 
by order of the State oflficials and compelled to withdraw from 
Charleston harbor. This event occurred on January 9, 1861, three 
months prior to the boml^ardment of Sumter, and is sometimes 
referred to as the first firing of the war. No one was killed in either 
engagement. From the Federal point of view there had been acts 




"Star of the 
West" epi- 
sode ; prior 
acts of war 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

Born Hardin County, Ky., Feb. 12, 1809; 
received rudimentary education when his 
father took him to Indiana; at school he was 
noted for rewriting the confused thoughts of 
others in clearer language of his own; studied 
law in Illinois and was elected to legislature, 
1S34-1842; elected to Congress on Whig ticket 
in 1846 for one term; earnestly opposed slavery 
and its extension, but denounced the methods 
of abolitionist extremists; elected President, 
1860; opposed secession and successfully prose- 
cuted a war for the perpetuation of the Union; 
re-elected President, 1864; shot by assassin 
April 14, and died April 15, 1865. 



272 ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

of aggression on the part of the southern States when a number 
of Federal forts in the southern States had been seized by the 
State authorities. Where the forts could not be secured without 
a contest the Confederate authorities, anxious to avoid war, hoped 
to secure possession of them through negotiation or treaty with 
the Federal government. 

203. The Issue Drawn. — The news of the fall of Sumter 
served to arouse the North, and the issue was clearly drawn when 
President Lincoln, on April 15, called for 75,000 volunteers, "to 
suppress combinations against the laws of the United States." 

It will be remembered that eight of the southern States had 
opposed secession. In these States there was an immediate ex- 
Opposition prcssiou of oppositiou to a war of coercion or to the 
of thrc'ot^ ''invasion" of their sister States. Virginia promptly re- 
ton states fuggj ^q contribute her quota of men and passed an 
ordinance of secession on April 17. Arkansas followed on May 6, 
North Carolina on May 20, and Tennessee on June 8. These 
States at once united with the Southern Confederacy. In the 
remaining four southern States the secession movement was put 
down. In Missouri there was a sharp struggle, Kentucky en- 
deavored without success to maintain a position of neutrality, 
while the people of Delaware had little desire to secede. In Mary- 
land, however, the sympathy with the other southern States was 
so strong that the government at Washington found it necessary 
to interpose very vigorously in the arrest of the members of the 
State legislature and of leading citizens, while thousands crossed 
the Potomac and joined the Confederate forces in Virginia. 

In the meantime, the first blood was shed in Baltimore, when, 
on April 19, the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment passed through 
First blood- that city on the way to Washington. Missiles were 
^^^"^ thrown at the soldiers, who replied with shots, and the 

conflict resulted in the death of four soldiers and twelve citizens. 

204. Preparations for War. — Shortly after the secession of 
Virginia, the Confederate capital was moved from Montgomery 
to Richmond, and both governments made active preparations 



PREPARxVTIONS FOR WAR 273 

for war. Only the most far-sighted, however, reaUzed the mag- 
nitude of the probable conflict. Those who did in any measure 
realize it were the veterans on either side who had fought together 
in the Mexican War and against the Indians in the south and 
west. They knew that when they faced each other it was not 
going to be an easy victory for either. The majorit}^ Sectional 
of those who gaily enlisted seemed to think that the and^miscon- 
war would last a few months at most. The average ^^^^^"^^^ 
southerner went into the struggle with an ignorant contempt 
for the fighting qualities of the North. The northerner enlisted 
with a like ignorance of the valor and character of his southern- 
brother. The southerner was apt to think of the northerner as 
so involved in commercial pursuits as to have become incapaci- 
tated for war. The northerner thought of the southerner either as 
one who lived wholly by the labor of others, or as a weakling 
incapable of enduring the hardships of a prolonged military cam- 
paign. One failed to realize the grim determination and tremen- 
dous resources of the North ; the other as little imagined the self- 
sacrificing devotion to cause, the unfailing fortitude, and the 
endurance of the South. Out of the struggle came glory and fame 
for both; but the untold suffering and horror of the conflict out- 
weighed all its honors, and it should prove to be an everlasting 
warning against passion and prejudice in the future. 

In point of numbers the contest was unequal. In the begin- 
ning, the North had 23 States with a population of 21,000,000. 
The South had 11 States with a population of 9,000,000, comparison 
of which less than 6,000,000 were white. The North °^ ^^^^"^^"^ 
had also a population that was steadily expanding in the west and 
northwest, swelled by a great tide of immigration from which 
several hundred thousand men were drawn for service in the war. 
Neither side was prepared for the conflict, but the North had un- 
equaled resources in its manufactures and an unlimited capacity 
for increasing them and for making all things necessary for war. 
The North had varied industries and was supplied with food in 
abundance from its western farmlands. It contained nearly all the 
18 



27i ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



m\ 




armories and arsenals of the government. Moreover, the pres- 
tige of the Federal government as the central authority of the 
federated republic for over seventy years had great weight 
abroad. It had an estabUshed treasury, an army, and a navy, 
the last being of the utmost importance in finally deciding the 
issue. 

On the other hand, the South was lacking in every equipment 
for modern warfare. It contained but one cannon foundry and 
only a few small arsenals. Manufactories were 
practically nonexistent within its borders. For 
a long time the southern people had devoted 
themselves to raising cotton and tobacco, and 
they even bought a great part of their food 
supplies from the northern States or abroad. 
Slavery was largely responsible for this lack of 
diversity in occupations and products, a condi- 
tion that seriously handicapped the South, if it 
wiNFiELD SCOTT ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ priuclpal causc of ultimate failure. 
Born Dinwiddle County. At the samc time, slavcry was an advantage in 

Va., June 13, 1786. Served ' . „ 

with credit in War of 1812, that the slaves, bcmg for the most part happy 

and was brevetted major- 
general ; commander-in- and coutcuted, devotcd themsclvcs to the rais- 

chief of forces in war with 

Mexico, 1846-1847, con- ing of foodstuffs for the southcm armies and 

ducted the campaign . . » . 

against Vera Cruz and peoplc. Morcovcr, their preseucc as au iiiferior 

Mexico City; defeated for '^ ^ . . " 

President by Franklin peoplc had playcd its part lu produciug a race 

Pierce, 1852; took com- ^ ^ ^ -^ f - c 

mand at Washington in of mcu uusurpasscd lu traits of couragc and 

1860, but gave wav to ot -i- -i 

Mccieiian in autumn of f orcc of charactcF.^ lu military operations the 

1861; because of his careful • ^ c i- 

observance of military Confederacy had an advantage m defending 

forms and etiquette re- . • i i • i 

ceived the nickname of miicr liiies ou its owu territory; but this ad- 

"Old Fuss and Feathers." i r- /-. c i 

Died 1866. vantage was offset by the lack of a Confederate 

navy to meet Federal blockades or Federal invasion by means of 
the great inland water routes. The far South also laid particular 
stress upon the influence of its enormous production of cotton to 
enable the Confederacy to secure supplies from abroad or even in- 

3 Burke referred to this fact in his speech on conciliation with the American 
colonies. 



CAMPAIGN IN EASTEEN VIRGINIA 275 

tervention on the part of foreign powers. This, they thought, would 
more than offset the recognized preponderance of the sea power of 
the Federal government. It was not believed possible effectively 
to blockade the extensive coast line of the southern States.^ 

205. Federal Campaign in Western Virginia, 1861. — The first 
aggressive movement against the seceding States was led by General 
George B. McClellan, who advanced into western Virginia with a 
force of 20,000 men. This was done in order to secure that section 
of the State, which was strongly Union in sentiment, like the 
mountainous parts of Kentucky and Tennessee. McClellan was 
successful and drove before him the Confederate force of about 
5000 men sent to oppose him. Later, by irregular Creation of 
and unconstitutional methods which were upheld by ginia, lsgi 
their advocates on the ground that they were justified by the 
exigencies of war, the western part of the State was detached 
from Virginia and made into the new State of West Virginia.^ 

206. Campaign in Eastern Virginia, 1861.— Fighting in western 
Virginia was followed by sharp skirmishes in the eastern part of 
the State, where the first great battle of the war was to take 
place. ^ By the middle of July the Federal troops under the leader- 

^ See also reference to the historical investigations of Charles Francis 
Adams, " Sidelights and Suggestions," p. 218. 

* Some of those who opposed the secession of Virginia met at Wheeling in 
Jmi^, 1861. These, claiming that they represented the whole State, established 
a government calling itself the Commonwealth of Virginia and chose Francis 
H. Pierpont provisional governor. On the basis of this claim, they gave them- 
selves permission to create a new State, which action was subsequently sanc- 
tioned by Congress, and by proclamation of President Lincoln, April 20, 1863. 
This proclamation declared that 48 of the former counties of Virginia were 
included in the new State, which made provision for the admission of seven 
more counties, two of wliich, Berkeley and Jefferson, were annexed to West 
Virginia in the summer of 1863. Difficulties arising between the two States 
with regard to these two counties and to the payment of the undivided State 
debt gave rise to important suits in the United States Supreme Court, some 
points of which have yet (1914) to be settled. 

^ The most noteworthy of these skirmishes was that at Big Bethel on the 
York River peninsula, in which the Confederates defeated a Federal detachment. 



27G 



ADMINISTRxVTION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



ship of General Irvin McDowell had begun to push forward to the 
Confederate capital. McDowell's effective force was 45,000 men; 
but, leaving 15,000 of these to protect Washington, he advanced 
on a Confederate force of 20,000 under Gen- 
eral Beauregard, posted at Bull Run, on the 
railroad route to Richmond. 

In the Valley of Virginia, some 40 or 50 
miles away, there was an auxiliary Confeder- 
ate force of 9000 men under General Joseph 
E. Johnston. General Winfield Scott, then 
commander-in-chief of the Federal armies, 
directed General Robert Patterson, with an 
army of 20,000 men, to keep watch over John- 
ston in order to prevent the latter from unit- 
ing with Beauregard. McDowell's plan was 
to turn Beauregard's left flank and Battle of 
force him back on Richmond. But Kn^s^as^ 
when McDowell was ready for the "^"^^ ^^ 
attack on the morning of July 21, it was dis- 




GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN 



Born Philadelphia, Dec. 
3, 1826. Was graduated at 
West Point, 1846; served 
with honor in Mexican 
war, receiving several pro- 
motions under Scott; sent 
abroad in 1855 to study 
European army organiza- 
tion in Crimean war; re- 
signed and became railroad 

^ssioned * Mal^r-GeneSi covcrcd that Johuston had eluded Patterson 



at outbreak of War of Se- 
cession; appointed general- 
in-chief, U.S.A., on retire- 
ment of General Scott; 
organized an eflRcient army 
after Bull Run defeat; 
checked in an advance on 
Richmond and relieved 
from command; again took 
command after Pope's de- 



and had joined Beauregard with 6000 of his 
men, including the brigade under T. J. Jack- 
son. McDowell's attack on the Confederate 
left was vigorous and well directed, and in 
several hours' fighting he had driven back the 
b1ock^edConfedeJLt?ad- southem Uues of dcfcuse; but in the after- 
warL'?cond\lme^"ei^^^^^ noou Jacksou advauced with the bayonet, 
?indidate To^ Pre^siS'h! the remainder of Johnston's army arrived 
New' Jersey!i877.°'' DiS f^om the Valley, and the battle resulted in a 
^^^^ complete victory for the Confederates, many 

of the half-drilled Federal mihtia not stopping in their flight until 
Washington was reached. 

The final fighting strength of the two armies on the battle- 
field was probably more nearly equal than in any other great battle 
of the war. The Union loss was reported as 460 killed, 1124 



CAMPAIGN IN EASTERN VIRGINIA 



277 



wounded, and 1312 missing; the Confederates reported 387 killed, 
1582 wounded, and 13 missing J 

The result of the first battle of Bull Run, or first Manassas, 
did not discourage the prosecution of the war, but served to 
Results of arouse the 

thenrst 

great battle Federal 
Administration and 
the people of the 
North to a greater 
determination to 
overthrow the Con- 
federacy. In the 
South the battle had 
the effect of creating 
over-confidence and 
some disposition to 
division and differ- 
ences. Partly be- 
cause the Confeder- 
ate government 
sought independence 
only and had no de- 
sire to invade the 

States or territory in the Federal Union, and 
partly because the Confederate civil officials 
were confident of ultimate success in any 

^ . -- BATTLEFIELDS OF VIRGINIA, 

event, there was no eiiort made to loUow Maryland, and pennsyl- 
up aggressively the fruits of the victory and 

to invest the Federal capital. President Lincoln, on the other 
hand, issued a call for an additional 500,000 men, and Congress 
supported all measures that had been put forward by the Presi- 
dent before that body had assembled. McClellan, an excellent 

^ General Jackson's cool courage and immovable stand on this occasion, 
when a part of the Confederate army was being driven back almost in rout, 
won for him the name of "Stonewall." 




278 



ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



organizer and a leader highly popular with the troops, was now 
placed in command.^ 

On October 21 a Federal force of 2000 men crossed the 
Engagement Potomac near Leesburg, but was driven back with 
1*1 ^ffff oct^ the loss of nearly half its number by Confederate 
21, 1861 troops under General Evans. This ended for the 
year the fighting in the east. 

207. Campaign in the West, 1861. — In the west there were 
numerous minor engagements covering a great expanse of border 




Copyright, 1911, by the Patriot Pub. Co. From the Photographic History of Ci\ il War. 
CAMP LIFE AND DRILLING FOR BATTLE A PICTURE ILLUSTRATING THE GLAMOUR OF WAR 

territory, the principal fighting taking place in Missouri, where 
the Confederates were finally compelled to retire, leaving the 
Federal forces in practical possession of the State. In Kentucky, 
the hostile armies maintained their respective positions. 

208. Status of the Confederacy. — The Southern Confederacy 
claimed recognition by foreign powers as a de jure government , 

8 A number of southern soldiers, especially privates, had gone to the front 
with baggage, "change of raiment," and accompanied by servants. Many 
of these now thought that the war was practically over. On the other hand, 
the northern army was followed by coaches, private citizens, and politicians, 
bent upon seeing a great spectacle, and getting and publishing first-hand 
accounts of the victory they so confidently expected. 



STATUS OF THE CONFEDERACY 279 

or a government that was duly organized and acting under 
regular process of law, just as the Confederated States were act- 
ing during the American Revolution. This claim of cle claims of the 
jure government was never accorded by foreign powers ; s "a^S^^gov- 
but the Southern Confederacy was recognized as a de ^'"^^^'^^ 
facto government, or one that actually existed and which was 
accorded the status of a belligerent without recognition as a 
country or nation. This recognition as a belligerent rather than 
as people engaged in an insurrection resulted, according to the law 
of nations, as a consequence of the blockade of southern ports by 
the Federal fleet. At first the crew of a captured southern steamer, 
the Savannah, were put in irons to be hanged as pirates; but the 
Confederate government declared its purpose to retaliate by 
hanging an equal number of Federal prisoners captured on land. 
In the meantime, however, the United States Supreme Court 
formally recognized the belligerency of the Southern Confederacy, 
subsequent to which act an arrangement or cartel was dra^Ti up 
for the regular exchange of prisoners.^ 

European dependence upon the cotton and tobacco crops of 
the South wa^ one of the things counted upon by southerners to 
influence or bring about foreign intervention and recogTJtion of 
the Confederacy. In the autumn of 1861, James M. Msson of 
Virginia and John Slidell of Louisiana were appointed commis- 
sioners to Great Britain and France respectively. After The Trent 
running the Federal blockade to Cuba, they took pa^- ^^^'''* ^^^^ 
sage on the British mail steamer Trent. On the way to England 
the Ti^ent was overhauled by Captain Wilkes, in command of the 
United States warship San Jacinto. The Confederate Commis- 
sioners were taken to Boston as prisoners and Congress approved 

^ Great Britain was for a long time harshly criticised in the North for her 
early recognition of the belligerent rights of the Confederacy. On the other 
hand, she was criticised by the South for not granting to the Confederacy all 
the rights due a belligerent, such as the establishment of prize courts for 
Confederate captures on the high seas. Great Britain also denied that right 
to the Federal government, but such a course worked no hardsliip on the North, 
since all the Federal ports were open. 




280 ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

the act of Captain Wilkes. As this act was a reversion to the 
British pohcy of search and seizure that brought on the war of 
1812, and as Great Britain demanded redress, Lincoln admitted 
the mistake and the commissioners were released. Probably- 
war with Great Britain was thus averted. 

209. Summary. — The battles of 1861 may be said to have 
resulted in favor of the South, while other developments demon- 
strated the superiority of the North. The 
Confederates had won the great battle of Bull 
Run, or First Manassas, and several minor 
engagements. On the other hand, Maryland, 
Missouri, Western Virginia, and part of Ken- 
tucky were controlled by the Federal forces, 
which, in addition to greatly increased numer- 
ical strength, showed wonderful improvement 
in efficiency under the direction of General 
McClellan. More important still, and fore- 
p. G. T. BEAUREGARD shadowlug thc truc cause of the downfall of 
2s!^?S8^' was^Suated the Confederacy, were the operations of the 
servel^^th honor in Mell^ Uniou naval forccs. Thcse had already cap- 
tion ""undef'sc'StrTa; tured the less guarded stations along the line 
pS wren^Loufsianrse- of the Atlantic coast, such as the forts on the 
pointed ' bIfgTdier-eneTi Hattcras iulct and at Port Royal. Other forts 
S;nt??otmandedirrom: had bccu held by the Federal government 
and'^'T'fi^ft^Buii^'w from the beginning, such as Fortress Monroe 
eoZTZt TtrL^l in Virginia. Already had begun the blockade 
Died 1893. which was to cut off Confederate supplies 

and which soon ''encircled the Confederacy with a line of fire.'* 
This blockade was never really broken, and against it the Con- 
federate government could oppose but a small number of badly 
constructed, though novel, vessels. Besides these, however, some 
cruisers were built or bought abroad which inflicted great losses 
upon the commerce of the United States. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 281 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

L Sections 197 and 198 have an important bearing upon all that follows 
in several chapters and also upon much of the preceding history. 

2. Discussion of the events that led up to the War of Secession has given 
rise to no end of speculation. If Major Anderson had replied from Fort 
Sumter to the shots fired at the Star of the West in January, war might 
have been begun during the administration ot Buchanan. Anderson was 
about to fire upon the South Carolina batteries when restrained by the advice 
of a subordinate officer. 

3. Be sure to have a clear idea of the division of Southern States as to: 
(1) the seven that seceded first; (2) the four that seceded later; (3) the four 
that were divided in sentiment but were held in the Union, and (4) Western 
Virginia, which was cut off from Virginia and made into the new State of 
West Virginia, 



1 



CHAPTER XXIX 

Administration of Abraham Lincoln: First Term, 1861-1865; 
The War of Secession — Campaigns of 1862 

210. Federal Plans of Campaign, 1862. — At the beginning of 
1862 the Federal plan of campaign consisted of three main parts: 
(1) the invasion of Virginia and the capture of the Confederate 
capital; (2) a general advance by the western armies through 
Kentucky and Tennessee in cooperation with fleets of gunboats 
and other war vessels descending the Mississippi from above 
and with a Federal fleet designed to capture New Orleans and 
open up the river from below; (3) the maintenance of an effective 
blockade of the ports on the Atlantic coast and those on the Gulf 
of Mexico.^ 

211. Land Campaigns in the West. — Aggressive movements 
were begun first in the west. In February the Union forces under 
Forts Henry General Ulysses S. Grant and Commodore Foote cap- 

and Donel- . -r.* 

son captured turcd Fort Hcnry on the 1 ennessee River, a success 
followed by the capture of Fort Donelson on the Cumberland; 
while the Confederate losses in the defense and surrender of these 
posts amounted to over 12,000 men. 

Following up these early successes, General Grant moved the 
Army of the Tennessee up the river of that name, accompanied 
Battle of by a fleet of gunboats. Near Shiloh church Grant 
6-7, 1862 halted to await the arrival of Buell, who had in the 
meantime occupied Nashville. Twenty miles distant was a Con- 
federate army under General Albert Sidney Johnston, who at 
once advanced in an effort to defeat Grant before Buell could 

' Roanoke Island and New Berne w"re captured in January, and Fort 
Pulaski, at the entrance to Savannah harbor, was captured in the following 
April. 

282 



LAXD CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 



283 



unite with him. Johnston fell upon Grant's army on April 6 at 
Shiloh. Two days of fierce fighting followed. The Confederates 
were at first victorious ; but as Johnston was pressing his Death of ai- 

' -^ bert Sidney 

advantage, the Confederate leader, rated as one of the Johnston 
ablest commanders on either side, fell mortally wounded. The 
Confederate attack became thereupon seriously disorganized; 
while Buell had come forward to the aid 
of Grant, and at the end of the two 
days' battle the 
Confederates 
were compelled 




BATTLEFIELDS OF KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE 



to retreat. The losses on either side were nearly equal, amounting 
in both armies to about 20,000 in killed, wounded, and captured. 
At first the Confederates had the advantage in numbers, but they 
in turn were outnumbered after the arrival of Buell. 

Shiloh was the severest battle that had yet taken place during 
the war, and it resulted in the first serious break in the 
Confederate line of defense on land. After the battle of 
Shiloh, General Halleck took command of the western 
army. He now had a force of 100,000 men, or just about double the 



First breaks 
in Confeder- 
ate lines in 
the west 



284 LINCOLN ADMINISTRATION; WAR OF SECESSION 

Confederate force under Beauregard, the latter withdrawing from 
Corinth to Tupelo, Mississippi. In the fall of Corinth the second 
line of defense of the Confederates in the west was broken, and th?ir 
railroad system between the east and the west was cut in two.- 

212. Naval Operations on the Mississippi, 1862. — By the end 
of April Commodore David G. Farragut had entered the Miss- 
Capture of issippi Rivcr from the south ; and after -running by 

New Orlccins 

May 1 forts Jacksou and St. Philip with war ships and gun- 

boats, he defeated a small Confederate fleet and captured the 
city of New Orleans. General Butler, with a force of 14,000 men, 
was placed in command of the city, and Farragut passed up the 
Mississippi, securing the surrender of every town on the river as 
far as Vicksburg within the next two months.^ 

Shortly after the fall of New Orleans, the Federal gunboats, 
continuing their attack from above, descended the Mississippi 
Fall of Mem- to Memphis, which was hemmed in on the east by 
phis, June 6 j?g(^gj.g^i armics.^ On June 6 the city surrendered, sub- 
sequent to a Federal victory over some Confederate vessels 
engaged in the defense of the river at that point. 

213. Naval Operations in the East, 1862. — During the first 
two months of 1862 the best equipped of the Federal armies was, 
except for constant drilling under the direction of General Mc- 
Clellan, kept inactive in the vicinity of Washington, although it 

2 This series of battles in the west was preceded by a movement under 
General George H. Thomas, who advanced into eastern Kentucky and de- 
feated the Confederates in a battle at Mill Springs. Thomas, however, was 
not supported in his movement, and there were no permanent results from this 
victory. Thomas was a Virginian who fought for the Union. He is perhaps 
the only prominent commander on either side who neither surrendered nor 
sustained defeat during the war. 

3 Commodore, afterwards Admiral Farragut, was born in Tennessee, but 
remained in the Federal service upon the outbreak of the war. 

^ During March and April, Commodore Foote and General Pope succeeded 
in capturing Confederate fortifications at New Madrid and Island Number 10, 
while General Curtis defeated the Confederate forces in southern Missouri in 
the battle of Pea Ridge, driving the Confederates into Arkansas. 



1 






NAVAL OPERATIONS IN THE EAST . 285 

was nearly three times as large as the Confederate force immedi- 
ately opposed to it at Manassas, under General Joseph E. John- 
ston. When, finally, McClellan showed signs of moving forward, 
Johnston began to retreat; but before there had been any serious 
engagement on land, a combat took place in Hampton Roads 
that was destined to revolutionize the naval warfare of the world. 

When the Federal forces had abandoned 
Norfolk during the previous year, they had 
The wooden scuttlcd and sunk the Merrimac, a 
m/mc'' tmns- woodeu frigate. As the Confede- 
the^ifondad rate government had no navy, Cap- 
virgima ^^^^ j^^^ Mcrccr Brookc conceived 
the idea of raising the Merrimac and covering 
its sides with locomotive track rails and iron 
plates, arranged in sloping fashion so as the 
more readily to deflect the fire of the enemy. 
This was accordingly done, and after many ^^^"^^^ ^j;^^^^ johnston 

*^ ^ ' *^ Born Mason County, 

months of preparation, the Merrimac, now ^^y j ^eb- 3, isos. was 

■^ ^ ■^ ' graduated at VVest Point, 

The Virginia renamed the Virginia, steamed out if ^tk^'^T^o^^^er'^^i^esiS 

Fedeml flee^t^ of the harbor of Norfolk to attack t^om army in 1S34: settled 
M h S ^^ Texas and served in its 

iuarcna ^^i^ Federal fleet near Fortress ^'^r fo/ independence, 

where he became com- 

Monroe. Equipped with but ten guns, and mander-in-chief; secretary 

^ ^ ^ ° ' of war of Repubhc of 

accompanied by two tiny gunboats, she ad- Texas, isss; served with 

^ -^ -^ ^ ' honor in United States 

vanced to meet the fire of the whole Federal army in war with Mexico, 

1847; appointed general 

fleet totalling over 300 guns. In a short time ""dor Confederacy, isgi, 

, ^ and was killed in battle 

she sank the Cumberland and destroyed the of shiioh, April e, 1862. 
Congress, although the crews of both vessels fought with unsur- 
passed courage and skill. Turning upon the remainder of the Fed- 
eral fleet, the Virginia caused the Minnesota, the St. Lawrence, and 
the Roanoke to run aground. She then turned back to Norfolk, 
planning on the following day to complete the destruction of 
the Federal fleet. 

In the meantime, however, there had appeared in Hampton 
Roads a small armored antagonist, which had been constructed 
from better material and after a more serviceable fashion. This 



286 LINCOLN ADMINISTRATION; WAR OF SECESSION 

vessel was the Monitor and was equipped with two large guns in 
a revolving turret. It was designed by a Swede named John 
The Monitor Ericsson and had been likened to a "cheese box on a 
vlrginff, raft." The Virginia was larger, but slow and very un- 
March 9 wieldy; its engines were defective and at best could 
make but four to six miles an hour. The Monitor, on the other 
hand, was agile and could place its shots with greater precision 
from its revolving turrets. After a fierce duel of several hours' 
duration, without decided advantage to either vessel, Captain 
Wordenof the Mo7iitor having been badly wounded, the latter vessel 
retreated to shallow water where the Virginia could not follow her. 




engagement between the " monitor " and the "virginia" (originally the 
"merrimac"), march 9, 1862 

The Virginia, with its battering ram broken off from collision 
with the Cumberland, and having sustained other injuries, re- 
tired to Norfolk for repairs. When it again appeared some weeks 
later, the Monitor and the other Federal vessels refused its ter- 
rible challenge to battle and retreated under the guns of Fortress 
Monroe. Neither ironclad took any further important part in 
the war, and the Virginia was burned by the Confederates upon 
the evacuation of Norfolk. In the meantime, the Virginia had 
created a panic in the coast cities of the north, which were fear- 
ful of an immediate attack.^ 

^ The name Virginia is used here instead of the more generally used 
Merrimac because this was the name under which she fought, and it is right 
and proper to call her by the name so given her. Moreover, it should be 



,1( 



McC'LELLAN'S CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST 287 

214. McClellan's Campaign in the East, 1862. — In April, 
McClellan prepared to advance upon Richmond by way of Chesa- 
peake Bay and the York peninsula. General Johnston had re- 
treated from Manassas, where he had concealed the weakness of 
his forces and equipment by erecting wooden 
or "Quaker" guns along a part of the Hne of 
his fortifications. McClellan now landed more 
McClellan than 100,000 men near Fortress %'^ 

Yo?k pUn! Monroe. At Yorktown, a force of 
'"^^ 11 ,000 Confederates under General 

Magruder delayed the Federal commander 
until he was reinforced by Johnston, who as- 
sumed command of the Confederate armies in 
Virginia. Johnston, however, was forced to re- 
treat up the peninsula before the overwhelm- J^^^' " brooke 
ing numbers of McClellan. i^^l'lf^l J^^duSed 

At Williamsburg there was heavy fighting l^a^d^'em^ ,^m?; undei 
on May 5. The Federal van was at first re- fiA^/^ss'i-'lssa! ?n^4m?d" 
pulsed, but McClellan continued to advance ttL bTwhich'^ocfan bot 
Williams- until he had taken up a position t^ IZ;Sr:S^slZ^ 

Seven Pines within sight of the church SpireS of ae^^f' fr?t'^ 'milScf 'td 

Richmond. Johnston's defensive force con- fhraKambefilTfhe'use 
sisted of 63,000 men; but the latter assumed ^he^'Sfs t°[?o°ndad (fi^r J^^ 
the offensive and attacked McClellan vigor- ^^ In^LilT^'^r'^'^'o- 

Lef sl^ oe ds ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ S-onTv ^"xt^^i^^S^ 
J.E.Johnston or Fair Oaks, which continued ^ary institute. Died 1906. 

through May 31 and June 1. General Johnston was seriously 
wounded in this engagement, and Robert E. Lee was put in 
command of the Confederate army, while McClellan sent urgent 

clearly understood that Captain Brooke, an American, planned the first iron- 
clad that proved its worth in battle. When it was learned that the Confeder- 
ates were reconstructing the Merrimac with armor plates, Ericsson set to work 
to build an armored vessel that could give her combat on equal terms, and such 
was the rapidity of its construction that both ships were ready at about the 
same time. The success of the Virginia in the first fight with the Federal fleet 
and her duel with the Monitor revolutionized the naval warfare of the world. 



288 LINCOLN ADMINISTRATION; WAR OF SECESSION 

dispatches to Washington for reinforcements from McDowell's 
army of 40,000 men then in the neighborhood of Manassas. 

McClellan's expectations of obtaining reinforcements were 
not, however, realized, because of the rapid movements and bril- 
Vaiiey cam- Hant tactics of Stoncwall Jackson in the Valley of Vir- 
s tVife w ai 1 ginia, over one hundred miles away. Here Jackson was 
Jackson, 1862 ^^ commaud of 15,000 men and was watched by two 
Federal armies, each greater than his own, commanded by Gen- 
erals Fremont and Banks, respectively. After being repulsed by 
a strong Federal force under Shields in the battle of Kernstown 
Battles of i^ March, Jackson retreated; but, about the first of 
Fro?t°Royau May, he advanced rapidly across the Valley, fell upon, 
chester.May' ^^^ defeated a part of Fremont's army at McDowell. 
1862 Without losing any time, he followed up this victory 

by driving before him a part of Banks's army at Front Royal. 
Continuing down the Valley toward Harper's Ferry, Jackson 
defeated another part of Banks's army at Newtown, and on the 
next day routed the main body at Winchester, driving it across 
the Potomac. General Shields, with a division from McDowell's 
Cross Keys ^^my, was now sent into the Valley to cooperate with 
JSbik^'^jJne Fremont and crush Jackson's small force. But before 
8 and 9 SWclds could uuitc with Fremont, Jackson defeated 

the latter at Cross Keys on the 8th of June, and, turning around 
the southern end of the Massanutten Mountain, defeated Shields 
at Port Republic on the following day. 

Jackson had carried out this campaign under instructions 
from General Lee, who had directed him to endeavor to clear the 
Results of Valley of Federal troops, to threaten Washington, and 
campaign then to joiu him in the defense of Richmond. This 
movement had the effect hoped for in that it changed the Federal 
anticipation of success to a feeling of serious apprehension for the 
safety of the capital. McDowell's force, therefore, was called 
upon to protect the defenses of Washington. Within the space of 
a month, Jackson's army had marched 400 miles and had fought 
six pitched battles together with a number of minor engagements. 



McCLELLAN'S CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST 



289 



Moreover, it had captured thousands of prisoners and a quantity 
of suppUes that were badly needed by the Confederates. Jackson 
now marched rapidly out of the Valley in order to reinforce Gen- 
eral Lee before Richmond. 

AVhen Lee learned that Jackson was ready to join him, thereby 
increasing his forces to 80,000 men, he prepared to attack McClel- 
lan, who had 105,000 men.« On June 20 Lee attacked ^ee^auacks 
McClellan at Mechanicsville, the latter withdrawing at June. i862 
the end of the day^ Gaines' Mill and Cold Harbor, where, on 
the following day, the Confederates were victorious. McClellan 
was now obliged to abandon his plans, and to withdraw in the 




MCCLELLAN's campaign: YORKTOWN to RICHMOND 

direction of the James River. Lee followed closely, giving battle 
at Savage Station, Frazier's Farm, and finally at Malvern Hill, 
where the Federal forces made a stubborn stand and repulsed 
the Confederate advance; but on the night after the last battle, 
McClellan gave up the hard fought field, and proceeded down the 
river to the protection of the Federal fleet. 

® While making preparation for the advance, General J. E. B. Stuart, 
with a force of cavalry, entirely encircled McClellan's army, confusing the 
latter, and aiding the Confederates with valuable information secured. 
19 



290 LINCOLN ADMINISTRATION; WAR OF SECESSION 

The fighting in these Seven Days' battles was extremely 
severe, and both armies acquitted themselves with honor. Mc- 
McCieiian Clellan and his corps commanders had managed their 

Buperseded . . , 

by Pope retreat skilfully, and had inflicted a loss of 20,000 men 
upon the Confederates, the Union loss being 16,000. Lincoln 
now ordered McClellan to the defenses of Washington, and ap- 
pointed General Halleck commander-in-chief of the Federal 
forces, at the same time calling for 300,000 more men. General 
John Pope was placed in immediate command of the army in 
Virginia, which was later known as the Army of the Potomac. 

215. Financial Problems of Federal and Confederate Qovern= 
ments. — In the meantime, one of the greatest problems both 
governments were obliged to face was that of meeting the ex- 
penses of the tremendous conflict, extending over thousands of 
miles of territory and covering the equipment and services of 
millions of men. In the Confederacy the suffering was already 
severe, and destined to grow worse as time went on. In the North 
the prestige of an established government and its organized re- 
sources maintained a better credit, although the banks suspended 
specie payment in the latter part of 1861. The expenses of the 
Federal government had mounted to two million dollars a day, 
rising later to three million dollars a day and over.^ Congress, 
now under the control of the Republican party, increased the 
protective tariff greatly, and continued to raise the rates for 
several years. 

216. Pope's Campaign in the East, 1862. — Some weeks sub- 
sequent to the Seven Days' battles and McClellan's withdrawal 
from the York peninsula. General Pope began to assume the 
aggressive in the neighborhood of Washington. He called to his 
command the defeated armies of Banks and Fremont from the 
Valley, while McClellan's army was to be transferred by detach- 
ments to the army near Manassas. As soon as these plans be- 

^ Congress passed in February, 1862, a measure known as the Legal 
Tender Act, authorizing an issue of $100,000,000 in notes, which, by law, 
creditors were compelled to accept. 



LEE MARCHES NORTHWARD 291 

came apparent to General Lee, the latter ordered Jackson to march 
against Pope before McClellan's detachments could join him. 
Jackson moved rapidly, and successfully attacked Battle of 

^ /-i 1 ^ Cedar Run, 

Banks's corps of Pope's army at Cedar Run, August 9. Aug. 9 

On the 29th and 30th of August, Lee and Jackson united in 
defeating Pope on the former battlefield of Bull Run or Manassas, 
and Pope's army retreated to Washington in almost as Second bat- 

i^ ^ ^ tie of Bull 

great a state of panic as the forces of McDowell had Run or Ma- 

, ,^ f. I , nassas, Aug. 

been in the previous year. The Confederate ranks, 29-30 
however, were greatly reduced by this succession of battles, the 
soldiers were ill clad and lacked in a great measure provisions and 
munitions of war, a lack which had been only partially supplied 
by the capture of Federal wagon trains. Nevertheless, the Con- 
federate commander now prepared to cross the Potomac, in the 
hope that a successful invasion of the North would end the war 
and lead to the recognition of the Southern Confederac}^^ 

217. Lee Marches Northward, 1862. — In accordance with 
this plan, Jackson was ordered to drive the Federal troops out of 
the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley into Harp- jackson cap- 
er's Ferry and to capture that stronghold. This he er-s"" f e^rYy^ 
accomplished by September 15, capturing 12,509 men ^^^^' ^^ 
and valuable munitions of war; whereupon he immediately marched 
to join Lee in western Maryland. 

In the meantime Pope had been superseded by McClellan, 
who had again been called to the command of the Federal army, 
and who was ready to move from Washington on Sep- McCieiian 

*^ . . a g a 1 n in 

tember 5. The advance guards of the hostile armies command 
met in the mountains not far from Frederick; and here, fortunately 
for McClellan, a copy of Lee's plan of campaign was discovered, 

8 His reasons, in part, for so doing lay in the expectation of securing the 
aid and assistance of Maryland, but western Maryland, unlike the eastern 
portion of the State, was, in sentiment, inclined to the Union. Eastern Mary- 
land contributed to the southern armies thousands of volunteers, many of 
whom were lineal descendants of those who had commanded or served in the 
ranks of the famous "Old Maryland Line" of the Revolutionary War. 



292 LINCOLN ADMINISTRATION; WAR OF SECESSION 

the same having been mislaid or lost through the carelessness of 
a Confederate officer. 

McClellan at once took advantage of his opportunity and 
marched to attack Lee while Jackson was engaged in the capture 
Battle of An- of Harpcr's Ferry. At South Mountain a sharp fight 
17, 1862 occurred, in which the Confederate forces held McClel- 
lan's army in check for a sufficient time to enable Lee partially 
to prepare for battle. At Sharpsburg, on Antietam Creek, the 
armies met in a general engagement on September 17, where 





Copyright, X911. by the Patriot Pubg Co. From the Photographic History of the Civil War. 

DEAD UPON THE BATTLEFIELD OF ANTIETAM A PICTURE SHOWING THE HORRORS OF WAR 

occurred one of the mightiest struggles in the history of modern 
warfare. Every foot of ground was stubbornly contested by 
both armies and the losses were unparalleled in proportion to the 
numbers engaged. The Federal losses in killed and wounded 
amounted to 11,600 men, while the Confederate losses were some- 
what greater or over 11,700. Although the Confederate losses 
were almost twice as heavy as the Federal in proportion to the 
number of men engaged in the battle, Lee awaited McClellan's 
attack the whole of the day following this bloody conflict. Dur- 
ing the night of the 18th he retired across the Potomac River at 



BURNSIDE'S CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST 293 

Shepherdstown, where there was a sharp engagement in which 
the Federal advance was repulsed. McClellan's forces on the 
field of Antietam were 87,000 men. The fighting strength of Lee, 
including Jackson's reinforcements, amounted to 37,000 men.^ 

218. Proclamation of Emancipation. — Some months prior to 
the battle of Antietam, President Lincoln had prepared a procla- 
mation for the emancipation of such slaves as were in territory 
then occupied by those engaged in active resistance to Federal 
authority. This proclamation was issued by the President as a 
war measure intended not only to embarrass the Confederacy by 
the promise of freedom to the slaves in the seceded object and 

^ .scopeoi 

States, but to enlist the moral support of the world in proclamation 
favor of the Federal cause. Lincoln did not believe, however, 
that he had the constitutional right to liberate the slaves of citi- 
zens in loyal territory or in territory controlled by the Federal 
armies; consequently, the proclamation did not apply to the 
States of Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, and 
Missouri, and portions of Virginia, Tennessee, and Louisiana. 
The proclamation was to take effect on the first of January, 
1863.10 

219. Burnside's Campaign in the East, 1862. — McClellan now 
prepared to advance once more upon Richmond, this time wholly 
by land; but to the authorities at Washington his movements 

3 These numbers are founded on McClellan's report and Lee's estimate. 
Livermore, Ropes, and some other special statisticians are inclined to raise 
the Confederate total to 50,000 men. The British authority, Henderson, and 
others, maintain that Lee's estimate of his own effective strength is correct. 
It should be remembered that the Confederates called this great conflict the 
battle of Sharpsburg, from the name of the village near wliich it was fought. 

1° It will be seen from this that the Emancipation Proclamation did not 
actually liberate any slaves, although it may be said to have led to such liber- 
ation by subsequent action of Congress and the State legislatures. If the 
proclamation had aroused the slaves in resistance throughout the Confederacy, 
the southern armies could not have been maintained in the field. That the 
slaves remained faithful to the trust committed to them by the men who went 
to the front is not only a tribute to the training and character of the southern 
negroes, but an enduring memorial of the kindly relations between masters 
and servants. 



294 LINCOLN ADMINISTRATION; WAR OF SECESSION 

seemed too slow, so that he was again removed from command, 
and General Ambrose E. Burnside was appointed to succeed him. 
Battle of Burnside advanced rapidly to the Rappahannock, op- 
bu^r'^gT^D^ec" posite Fredcricksburg, whither Lee marched to confront 
13, 1862 j^-j^ Here Lee assumed a strongly fortified position, 
and although the Federal army attacked him in a series of gallant 
charges, it was completely repulsed. In the battle of Freder- 
icksburg the Federal forces were about double those of the Con- 
federal tes, and their losses were more than twice as great, being 
upwards of 12,000 men. 





UNION TROOPS ( U(i>-SIN(, IllL; ItA I' I'Ali AXNOCK PRIOR To ; . . 1 LE OF FREDERICKSBURG, 

DECEMBER 13, 1862 

220. Fighting in the West in the Latter Part of 1862.— In the 

west the latter half of the year saw the Federal armies engaged 
in an effort to penetrate still farther the Confederate defense, and 
to secure the line of the Mississippi. An important objective 
point was Chattanooga in southern Tennessee, through which 
the railroads ran northeastward to Richmond, and southeastward 
to Atlanta. There was a great deal of indecisive fighting, marching, 
and counter-marching on the part of the Confederate forces under 
Generals Braxton Bragg and E. Kirby Smith. The latter won a 
victory at Richmond, Kentucky, and greatly alarmed the northern 



SUMMARY 295 

cities along the Ohio. Buell, however, was heavily reinforced and 
turned upon Bragg at Perryville, Kentucky. Here a Battle of 
battle was fought on October 8, after which Bragg retired ^^"y"^^^^® 
before the superior numbers of his antagonists. The Confederates 
hoped that Bragg's movement into Kentucky would loosen the 
hold of the Federals under Grant and Rosccrans. At Battle of 

Corinth, Oct. 

Corinth, the Confederate Generals Van Dorn and Price 3-4 
attacked the Federal forces on October 3 and 4, but were de- 
feated with heavy losses. 

General Grant now led the Army of the Tennessee through 
Mississippi against the Confederate fortifications at Vicksburg. 
He also ordered an army under General William T. Attempted 

»,,,.... Federal ad- 

Sherman to proceed along the line of the Mississippi vance upon 

-p.. • 1 T /-I > 1 Vicksburg, 

River to cooperate with the movement. Grant s plan i862 
of campaign, however, was completely overturned by the rapid 
movements of General Van Dorn, who destroyed his suppUes at 
Holly Springs, Mississippi, where also the Confederate cavalry 
under General N. B. Forrest cut the railroad in his rear. Grant was 
now compelled to retreat, and Sherman was defeated at Chicka- 
saw Bayou by a Confederate force under General Stephen D. Lee. 
General Rosecrans now replaced Buell in command of the 
Federal army in Kentucky. The former advanced against Bragg, 
and the armies met on the last day of the year in the Battle of 

rmi Murfrees- 

battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The engagement boro.Dec.si, 

, . . • • , T 1862, Jan. 2, 

was indecisive m its results, and was renewed on Jan- i863 
uary 2. This proved to be a drawn battle, and both armies were 
so badly shattered that neither one assumed the aggressive for 
several months thereafter. 

221. Summary. — The results of the second year of fighting 
may be said to have been on the whole favorable to the Federal 
government, whose land and naval forces had recovered much of 
Tennessee and Arkansas, and had secured the greater part of the 
Mississippi River from both above and below. On the Atlantic 
coast more Confederate forts had been captured, and the blockade 
caused increasing distress in the South on account of the lack of 
supplies. On the other hand, considerable opposition to the 



296 LINCOLN ADMINISTRATION; WAR OF SECESSION 

prosecution of the war had developed in the North, and the Repub- 
lican majority in Congress had been reduced. It was necessary 
for several States to use the draft in raising their quotas of troops, 
and free speech was in some cases put down with violence. 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. The War of Secession is properly given greater space than any other 
conflict. Any single campaign may be developed with profit from outside 
reading, such as Grant's campaign in the west, Farragut's operations at 
New Orleans, or Stonewall Jackson's campaign in the Valley of Virginia. 

2. Numbers and losses in the various battles are still subjects of dispute; 
although careful writers, through the most painstaking investigations, are 
reconciling many real and apparent discrepancies of statement. See, for 
example, the conflicting figures of the Confederate forces at Antietam, p. 293. 

3. There were many minor engagements in the east, in the west, and along 
the coast; and there were many acts of individual bravery on either side. 
These cannot be given in the limited scope of this book; but probably there 
are some students in every class who can contribute an interesting account 
from general reading. Because they may be described in greater detail, 
accounts of minor engagements often prove more interesting than the descrip- 
tions of noted battles. There were minor engagements both immediately 
before and after the second battle of Bull Run, in which brave leaders on 
either side met death, the most notable being that at Chantilly where the 
gallant Major-General Philip Kearny, U. S. A., was killed. 

4. Possibly no more remarkable fighting occurred in the history of the war 
than that in which the Confederate armor-clad steamer, the Arkansas, chal- 
lenged, passed through, and fought off the upper and lower Federal fleets at 
Vicksburg on July 15, 1862.ii 

Such accounts may be read in connection with the exploits of the Con- 
federate ironclad Albemarle on the coast of North Carolina, and the feat, 
unsurpassed in daring and endurance, of Lieutenant W. B. Gushing, U. S. N., 
in blowing up that vessel on the night of October 27, 1864. 

5. In the description of the various campaigns, the viewT)oint presented 
in this volume varies from the Federal to the Confederate side and vice versa. 
Not only is such a plan fair, but it lends interest and clearness to the narrative. 
In the west, it seems better to follow the aggressive campaigns of Grant and 
Farragut. In the east, the viewpoint gains unity and clearness by beginning 
with McClellan's forward movement and closing the campaign with the story 
of the successful stand, followed by the forward movements, of Jackson and Lee. 

^^ Detailed accounts may be obtained in "Battles and Leaders of the Civil 
War," and from other sources. 



CHAPTER XXX 

Administration of Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865; The War 
OF Secession — Campaigns of 1863 

222. Hooker's Campaign in the East, 1863. — In January, 1863, 
General Burnside was superseded by General Joseph E. Hooker. 
The Federal army did not become active, however. Battle of 
until April, when it began a movement on Chancellors- vi'ru!^May 
ville, south of the Rappahannock. On the 1st, 2nd, and ^''^ 

3rd of May battles were fought. Prior to these engagements Lee 
divided his army before a force more than double his own and 
sent Jackson with the greater part to attack Hooker's Death of 
right flank and rear. The movement was highly sue- •^^'^^^^^ 
cessful for the Confederates; but the victory cost them the ser- 
vices of " Stonewall " Jackson, as that noted leader fell mortally 
wounded by the fire of his own men, who mistook him and 
those with him for an opposing force. 

223. Lee's Second Northward Movement, 1863. — After the vic- 
tory of Chancellorsville, Lee again led the Army of Northern 
Virginia northward. Although the jnovement was con- Cavalry bat- 

^ ^ tie of Fleet- 

ducted as secretly as possible, it was soon reported to ^ o o d o r 

General Hooker, who sent forward a strong cavalry and tion, June 9 

infantry force. These were repulsed by the Confederates under 

Stuart in one of the severest cavalry enagements of the war. In the 

meantime, General Milroy and the Federal forces w^ere being driven 

from the Valley of Virginia by the Confederate General Ewell.^ 

The Army of the Potomac moved northward on the east side 

of the Blue Ridge with General George G. Meade in command 

in place of Hooker. It was Lee's plan to gain control m e a d e 

, . , replaces 

of several of the Pennsylvania cities, and to threaten Hooker 
Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, preparing, in addition, 
to engage the Federal army wherever it should be met. In order 

1 On June 12 Ewell captured Winchester with 4000 prisoners and 29 guns. 

297 



298 LINCOLN ADMINISTRATION; CAMPAIGNS OF 1863 



Stuart's sec- 

around '"pe^d- army moved north 

eral army 



to be informed of the Federal movements, he had instructed the 
cavalry under General Stuart to keep to his right as the 
Stuart, however, rode to the east- 
ward of the Federal army, became temporarily cut off 
from communication with Lee and did not join the main army 
until the second day at Gettysburg. In 
consequence of this, the Confederate leader 
was not kept informed of the movements 
of Meade, and in the latter part of June 
'-he found himself in close proximity to the 
Federal army much sooner than he had ex- 
pected. In fact, both armies were ignorant 
of the near approach of the other in southern 
Pennsylvania. 

A skirmish was first brought on by the 
meeting in Gettysburg of a Confederate bri- 
gade and a portion of the Federal army. 
This was on the 30th of June. Immediately 
both commanders made hurried efforts to 
advance and concentrate their forces. Early 




THOMAS J. (stonewall) 
JACKSON 



Born Clarksburg, Va. 
(W. Va.), Jan. 21, 1824. 
Walked much of the dis- 
tance from western Vir- 
ginia to Washington to 

secure appointment to . , „ c t i -• t » 

United States Military m the aiternOOU of July 1, Lee S First day at 
Academy; was graduated , , i i i Gettysburg, 

in class with McCieiian advaucc columus attacked the July i. ises 
motion for unusual ser- Federal cavalry and infantry at Gettysburg. 

vicGs in IVTgxio3,ii Wixv 

instructor of military tac- SeVCrC fighting tOOk plaCC, iu which the Con- 
Institute 1S51-1S61; dis- federates wcrc at first drivcu back with hcavy 

tmguished for steady cour- . x i i ^ . , < r> i i c 

age at first Bull Run; be- losscs. lu the latter part 01 the aiternoon, 

came famous after "Val- , , • r ^ ^ ri ^ 

ley Campaign" of 1862 in howcvcr, they wcrc remtorcea, and alter des- 

independent command; . n ^ ,• xi-nii -x j 

later associated with Lee peratc faghtiug the 1^ cderals were m turn de- 
untii death at Chancellors- fcatcd and forccd back. The Confederate 
advance was then stopped by order of Gen- 
eral Ewell, and both armies began to occupy opposing heights or 
ridges, the Federals occupying Cemetery Hill and the Confeder- 
ates, Seminary Ridge. 

It was the intention of General Lee to renew the battle early 
in the morning of July 2, but owing to the slowness of General 



1 



LEE'S SECOND NORTHWARD MOVEMENT 



290 




PLAN OF THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG 



Longstreet, the attack was not renewed until the afternoon. On 
the Federal side Sedgwick had made one of the greatest forced 
marches of the war, he and his corps having covered Second day; 
thirty-four miles during the night and morning to get great march 
into position for the fighting of the second day. On the other 
hand, in spite of Longstreet's tardiness of attack, the Confederate 



300 LINCOLN ADMINISTRATION; CAMPAIGNS OF 1863 



Third day 



assault, when finally made, was so fierce that the Federal troops 
were driven back for a time with great slaughter. The latter were 
heavily reinforced, however, and the Confederate right wing was 
held in check with a loss, at the close of the day, of some portion 
of the ground that it had gained. 

On July 3, as on the previous day, it was Lee'G intention 
to make an attack early in the morning, but, Longstreet again 
failed to attack until the afternoon. In the meantime, 
General Meade had strengthened his entrenchments 
and had been reinforced by all the troops within reach, while 
Ewell, on the Confederate left, was being driven back from 

Culp's Hill. Early in 
the afternoon, while the 
cannonading of the en- 
tire available artillery of 
the two armies seemed 

to shake the Charge of 
Pickett aad 

earth, a force Pettigrew 
of 14,000 Confederates 
charged the Federal 
position on Cemetery 
' Hill, and though their 
ranks were swept by the 
most terrific fire any attacking force had yet encountered during 
the war, they seized and held for a space of twenty minutes the 
centre of the Federal lines. They were, however, compelled to 
Lee with- withdraw after terrible losses, and thus ended the 

draws from 

the North fighting of the three days' battle of Gettysburg. Both 
armies acquitted themselves with glory, and w^hile Gettysburg 
itself is properly called a drawn engagement, the final withdrawal 
of the Confederates on the fourth day rendered the conflict, in 
its effect, at least, a Federal victory. 

The Union losses in this great battle have been estimated at 
23,000 men, while the Confederate loss was somewhat smaller, 
or about 20,400. The Federal army numbered 90,000 to 100,000 




GRANT S VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN 



CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 301 

men, and the Confederate strength between 62,000 and 75,000. 
No further engagements occurred between the eastern armies 
during the remainder of the year, and the battle of Gettysburg 
has been said to mark the high tide of Confederate fortunes. 

224. Conditions in the North. — Lee's withdrawal from the 
North relieved a serious political tension in that section, where the 
war had become, in some of the States, increasingly Draft riots in 
unpopular because of its long continuance and on ac- City 
count of the forced drafts made by the Federal government to 
fill the ranks of the Union armies. In July the fiercest riots ever 
known in this country had occurred in New York City. It was 
estimated that over 1000 persons were killed during four days' 
fighting between citizens on the one side, and militia. Federal 
troops, and police on the other. ^ 

Although the Federal currency or greenbacks had depreciated 
in value, business in the North was extremely active, and great 
fortunes were being accumulated. National banks Business ac- 

tive m the 

were established as a Federal measure of finance, carry- ^*orth 
ing out a policy somewhat similar to that of Hamilton, and re- 
newed by the Democratic-Republican party subsequent to the 
war of 1812. 

225. Campaigns in the West, 1863. — In the west, after a 
siege which had lasted more than five months, Ge iieral Gran t 
finally took possession of Vicksburg, the strongest Con- Rapture of 
federate post on the jNIississippi River. This surrender July 4 
took place on the 4th of Jul}', 1863, and was brought about largely 
by the efficient aid rendered the land forces by Admiral Porter 
and his fleet of gunboats and transports. 

A few days later Port Hudson, the last of the Confederate 
forts along the Mississippi River, surrendered to General Banks, 
who was effectively assisted by the Federal fleet under confederacy 
Farragut. The Confederacy was now cut in two, and ^"^ ^° ^^''"^^"^ 
supplies from the southwest were shut off, causing even greater 

^ Negroes especially were objects for attack by the mob. A number were 
beaten and others were hanged. 



302 LINCOLN ADMINISTRATION; CAMPAIGNS OF 18G4 

suffering than had before existed. In the west the summer months 

of 1863 witnessed some of the most daring cavalry raids and 

exploits of the war. Confederate confeder- 

.^ cavalry under Generals Forrest erai^°clvSfy 

operations in 
the west, 
1863 






and Wheeler rode through western 
Tennessee up to Fort Donelson, 
while* Generals Forrest and Van Dorn cap- 
tured a Federal detachment of 1300 men near 
Franklin. A Federal cavalry force of from 
1500 to 2000, under Colonel A. D. Streight, 
set out from Rose- 
crans^ army to destroy 
w. s. RosECRANs factoHes, mills, and sup- 

Born Kingston, O., Sept. ' ' %f 

\ w^'^; TD^^^ graduated pijes, and to cut Bragg's ^^ " ^^ 

at West Point, 1842; re- ^ ^ ' ^^ 

signed iLS. army 1854; railroad communicatious 

entered W ar oi Secession 

in volunteer service; served inGcOrSfia. With about 

prominently in western '^ 

campaigns until after 1000 Confederate troops, 

Chickamauga; transferred '■ ' 

to Department of the ForrCSt SCt OUt in the 
Missouri; represented Cal- 
ifornia in Congress 1881- most prolonged pursuit 
1885; register L. S. Treas- ^ o i 

ury, 1885-1893. Died 1898. and fierccst ruuniug en- 
gagement of the war. Streight and his men ^ braxton bragg 

'=''=' <=* Born W arren County, 

were finally compelled to surrender w^hen J^- ^-^ J^^'^T\r'^\^ ^'^>^^: 

'' ^ Graduate of West Point, 

not far from Rome, their objective point. is37; served with distinc- 

' *" ^ tion under Tavlor in Mexi- 

In July, General John H. Morgan led a can War; saw important 

•^ ' ^ service in command oi 

force of 2400 Confederate cavalry on a Confederate forces in the 

^ west; won his greatest 

raid through Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana, siic^ess on battlefield of 

^ ./ 7 7 7 Chickamauga; after the 

to cut Rosecrans' communications and to Sf '"; ^'^^ <^,^ief engineer of 

state of Alabama. Died 

destroy railroads, mills, and factories, i^^e. 
Morgan and nearly all his men were finally cut off and captured.^ 
Fierce fighting on a larger scale was now transferred to eastern 

^ Morgan was confined in the Ohio Penitentiary at Columbus, but escaped. 
Streight was sent to Libby Prison in Virginia. He also succeeded in escaping. 
During Streight's raid, a sixteen-year-old girl led Forrest to the ford by which 
he was enabled to overtake and capture Streight. She fearlessly rode behind 
Forrest when both were under a sharp Federal fire. 




CAMPAIGNS IN THE WEST 303 

Tennessee and neighboring States. In September Rosecrans took 
possession of Chattanooga, which was considered the military 
key to that section of the country. From Chattanooga Rosecrans 
set out to pursue General Bragg, but the latter, reinforced by 
Longstreet's corps from Lee's army, attacked Rosecrans on the 
19th and 20th of September. The Federal right wing was shat- 
tered, but the remainder of the army was saved by the courage and 
ability of General Thomas, who, like ''Stonewall" Jackson at the 
battle of Bull Run, stood his ground, and who 
was likewise given a special title of recogni- ^^t 

tion, being known thereafter as the ''Rock of r^ 

Chickamauga." Thomas was, however, forced 
Battle of to withdraw after nightfall of the 
S'sept'iS: 20th. The battle of Chickamauga, 
2o: 1863 ^^,j^-^j^ ^^^^ pl^pg Q^ ^Yie 19th and 

20th of September, has been referred to by 
recent historians as, in its ratio of losses, the 
bloodiest great battle of modern history, just 
as Sharpsburg or Antietam presented the BZ^'Z.thalZ'on^Co.. 
bloodiest single day's fighting in modern times, l^-^ of Tv^est Pofnt, ^So? 
After the battle of Chickamauga, Rosecrans ly;^!^ ^^^-^ar/'rfclknj 
was superseded by Thomas in the command JoTrc1°''lLXr"Ta^^^ 
of the Army of the Cumberland, and Sherman ^Si"i?ijf,d sSef v^fun: 
was made commander of the Army of the Sbi? UnTon vlSory Tn 
Tennessee, the two armies being united in one janurryN862^^g!iined d15- 
military department under General Grant. l"g'lJ.:"^ems;Ta™od''!'h'e 
Grant now carried out skilful movements cwSamaSg^-ln fhe''ba°- 
to relieve Rosecrans' army, which was besieged ^'^^f^^JJ^I* ^^^^' i^'^lfh- 
by Bragg in Chattanooga. The latter was com- J^t S'^rtthe^in Ihl 
B a 1 1 1 e s of pelled to detach Longstreet from ^^st. Died is7o. 

Lookout^. Ill 

Mountain his commaud m order to oppose Burnside, w^ho had 
ary Ridge, taken Kuoxville, and was advancing upon Chattanooga. 
1863 ' In this division of the Confederate forces. Grant saw 

his opportunity and on November 24 attacked Bragg's left wing 
on Lookout Mountain. The attack was led by Hooker and a 



^1^ 



304 LINCOLN ADMINISTRATION; CAMPAIGNS OF 1864 

part of the Army of the Potomac sent west to retrieve the dis- 
aster at Chickamauga. Hooker was successful in his assault and 
Lookout Mountain was won by the Federal forces. The following 
day Thomas and Sherman assaulted the Confederate right en 
Missionary Ridge, where they were equally successful, causing 
Bragg to retreat into Georgia, and forcing Longstreet to with- 
draw before the combined forces of Burnside and Sherman. This 
ended the serious fighting of the year.^ 







Copyright, 1911, by the Patriot Pub. Co, From the Photographic History of the Civil War. 

EXPLOSION OF A SHELL IN FORT SUMTER DURING THE CONFEDETtATS DEFENSE OF CHARLESTON 
HARBOR A PICTURE SHOWING THE DESTRUCTION OF WAR 

226. Summary of the Year. — Although the Battle of Gettys- 
burg, followed immediately by the fall of Vicksburg, marked a 
turn in Confederate fortunes, there existed in the South an una- 
bated determination to continue the struggle; while as indicative 
of the feeling of uncertainty in the North, the lowest point in the 

^ During the greater part of 1863 determined and repeated assaults were 
made upon the fortifications of Charleston, and despite the fact that Fort 
Sumter was laid in ruins, a garrison managed to hold it against attack. The 
Federal fleet bombarded the city, but could not capture it. Commodore 
Ingraham, the hero of the Martin Koszta affair (see p. 202), succeeded in fit- 
ting out small gunboats, with which he made successful sorties upon the block- 
ading fleet. His craft proved imseaworthy and the blockade was not per- 
manently broken. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 305 

depreciation of Federal currency was not reached until the fol- 
lowing year. Henceforth, however, the armies of the South were 
to fight on the defensive, while the Federal forces were slowly 
but surely to close in upon Confederate territory. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. That a trivial incident maj^ bring on a great engagement was well 
illustrated in the battle of Gettysburg. The immediate cause of the battle 
at that jjoint was the desire of the half-clad Confederate soldiers to secure 
shoes. Ihese they hoped to obtain in quantity at Gettysburg and marched 
thither to get them. Here they met the Federal advance, and contrary to 
the plans of both commanders, the final clash of arms occurred at this point. 

2. The charge of the Confederates under Pickett and Pettigrew has be- 
come immortal in history; but the forced night march of the Federal Fifth 
Corps under Sedgwick must be remembered with it as one of the most impor- 
tant movements, or perhaps the turning point, of one of the world's decisive 
battles. 

3. Follow the movements of Farragut, U. S. N., and of Forrest, C. S. A. 
Farragut was trained in the service from boyhood (see p. 250). Theodore 
Roosevelt said of him that he was "the greatest admiral since Nelson." For- 
rest was the son of a blacksmith, but he proved himself a born soldier and 
rose by sheer ability. Lord Wolseley said of this commander: "It would 
be difficult in all history to find a more varied career than his — a man 
who . . , by sheer force of character alone, became a great fighting leader 
of fighting men." 

20 



CHAPTER XXXI 

Administration of Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865; The War 
OF Secession — Campaigns of 1864 

227. Military Operations in the West, 1864.— Early in Feb- 
ruary Sherman marched from Vicksburg to Meridian, Mississippi, 
where he destroyed much railroad property. On February 22, 
however, Sherman's cavalry were defeated by General Forrest at 
Okolona, and Sherman was compelled to return to Vicksburg. 
Forrest now marched into Tennessee and Kentucky and captured 
Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River. At the same time Federal 
armies under General Banks and General Steele were ordered to 
move northward from Louisiana and southward from Arkansas 
to gain complete control of the southwest. Before these armies 
could unite, however, a Confederate force under General Richard 
Taylor defeated Banks near Mansfield on April 8, renewing the 
attack on the next day at Pleasant Hill, whereupon Banks re- 
treated to southern Louisiana. Another Confederate force under 
General E. Kirby Smith met Steele in two battles at Mark's 
Mill and at Jenkins' Ferry in the latter part of April and compelled 
the Federal commander to withdraw.^ 

228. Grant's Campaign in the East, 1864. — In March Grant 
was called from his successful operations in the west and was 
appointed commander-in-chief of all the Federal forces with the 
title of Lieutenant-General. He in person took command of the 
Army of the Potomac, with the determination to crush Lee's Army 
of Northern Virginia, then in camp south of the Rapidan River.^ 

^ A minor campaign in Florida ended in the battle of Olustee on February 
20, when the Confederates defeated an invading Federal force in that State. 

' At the same time, Grant gave instructions to Sherman, in command of 
an army of 112,000 men in the west, so to i:)ress General Joseph E. Johnston 
that neither Lee nor Johnston could send reinforcements to the other. General 
Banks was also ordered to proceed from New Orleans against Mobile. 
306 



GRANT'S CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST 



307 



Grant summoned Sheridan from the west and placed him in com- 
mand of the Federal cavalry. One army under General Franz Sigel 
held the lower Shenandoah Valley with the intention of Federal ar- 

1 ^ • T 1 ' • •" 1 1 1 •! y-M mies prepare 

breakmg Lee s communication with the west, while Gen- to advance 

eral B. F. Butler was to move up the James River from Fortress 

Monroe. Grant himself relied 

upon an army of 122,000 men 

to advance overland through 

the Wilderness to attack Lee 

with 62,000. He accordingly 

crossed the Rapidan River, 

and early in May opened the 

campaign. On May 5 and 6 

Fighting in there was fierce 

n'^e'ss^^May fighting in the Wil- 

^ derness, resulting 

from Grant's effort to outflank 
Lee and to move upon Rich- 
mond. The Federal losses 
amounted to 18,000 men and 
the army seemed in imminent 
danger of serious defeat; but, 
fortunately for Grant, the 
Confederate charge on May 
6 was halted upon the wound- 
ing of General Longstreet, 
who was pressing the Confed- 
erate advance. This delay 
gave Grant opportunity to 
reform his forces behind for- 
midable breastworks. 




GRANT 8 campaign: WILDERNESS TO PETERSBURG 



A few days later, Grant again tried to pass around Lee's right 
in the neighborhood of Spottsylvania Court House; Spottsyi- 
but Lee had arrived there before him. Powerful efforts lo, 12, is 
were made on May 10, 12, and 18 to break the Confederate lines, 



308 LINCOLN ADMINISTRATION; CAMPAIGNS OF 1864 



and although the Confederate army was several times in great 
danger of being swept away, its lines were as often reformed, 
and Grant's purpose was foiled. Again, however, the Confederacy 
paid a heavy price for victory with the loss of another one of its 
great commanders, when on May 11 General J. E. B. Stuart was 
mortally wounded.^ 

Some weeks of maneuvering followed these encounters until 
both armies were near the place where two years before McClellan 
had been defeated on the banks of the Chick- 
ahominy. Here at Cold Harbor, on coid Harbor 
the 1st and 3rd of June, Grant ^''''^ ^' ^ 
again attacked Lee, but was repulsed with the 
loss of 10,000 in killed and wounded. Having 
failed in his plans of approaching Richmond 
from the north" Grant now found himself on 
the east side of the Confederate capital. He 
therefore determined to cross the James River, 
and to approach Richmond from the south by 
way of Petersburg. 

While the mighty struggle was going on 
between Grant and Lee, General B. F. Butler's 
njj army of 40,000 had been defeated Butler de- 
by General Beauregard on May 16. B^eau'ega^rd 
In the Valley of Virginia, General ^^^^ '^ 
Hunter had cut a wide swath of desolation 
with fire and sword. General Jubal A. Early, 
however, with a division from Lee's army, entered the Valley and 
forced Hunter to withdraw. Lee now gave orders to General 
Early, as he had before ordered General Jackson, to advance upon 




J. E. B. STUART 

Born Patrick County, 
Va., Feb. 6, 1833. Was 
graduated at West Point, 
1854; commanded Con- 
federate cavalry early in 
the War of Secession 
became widely known as a 
daring cavalry officer, on 
several occasions riding 
around the Federal army: 
mortally wounded at Yel- 
low Tavern, Va. Died 
May 12, 1864. 



' Stuart was wounded at Yellow Tavern, not far from Richmond, whither 
he had gone to check a formidable Federal cavalry advance upon the Con- 
federate capital. In a somewhat similar manner the gallant General John 
Sedgwick, who had made the rapid march to the relief of Meade at Gettysburg, 
was killed May 9, two days before the fall of the noted Confederate cavalry 
leader. 



GRANT'S CAMPAIGN IN THE EAST 309 

Washington, with the same idea of causing a part of the Federal 
force in front of himself to be withdrawn for the defense of the 
Federal capital. General Early, therefore, crossed into Early's cam- 
Maryland, defeated General Lew Wallace at the Mono- ^fiifa"; Maryl 
cacy River, and appeared before the fortifications of pVn^n's'^y^N 
Washington. He had prepared to attack the city, but ''^''^^' ^^^* 
was forced to give up the undertaking on account of large Federal 
reinforcements. His movement, although causing President Lin- 
coln to call for additional volunteers to defend the capital, did 
not serve the purpose of weakening the army of General Grant. 
Early was forced to withdraw from the neighborhood of Washing- 
ton, but advanced into Pennsylvania as far as Chambersburg, in 
which town the Confederate commander, contrary to the precedent 
created by Lee in his previous invasion of the North, authorized 
destruction of property by way of retaliation for the terrible 
ravages of Hunter in the Shenandoah Valley.* 

General Grant determined that the Confederate forces in the 
Shenandoah Valley must be checked, and sent General Philip H. 
Sheridan with a strong army to drive them out, to Sheridan de- 
destroy the crops, and further to lay waste the Valley. Sept. 19-21 
Near Winchester, on September 19, Sheridan defeated Early, and 
again at Fisher's Hill on the 21st. 

While Sheridan was in Winchester on October 19, the Con- 
federates surprised the Federal forces at Cedar Creek and defeated 
them; but in the afternoon of the same day Sheridan she rid an 
rode up, rallied his men and defeated the Confederates, orSiVvafiey 
who now retreated up the Valley. This last Confederate ""^ '^''^''''^ 
advance through the Valley of Virginia had produced no results 
of permanent value to the Confederacy. Grant's forces still lay 
in overwhelming numbers in front of Lee at Petersburg, and the 
subsequent loss of control of the Valley caused unparalleled 

^ It is said that over a score of Federal officers under Hunter refused to 
carry out his orders to burn dwelling houses and to deprive women and children 
of shelter and food. Similar instances ot refusal or objection occurred in Sher- 
man's more widely destructive campaign in Georgia and the CaroUnae. 



310 LINCOLN ADMINISTRATION; CAMPAIGNS OF 1S64 

suffering both in that section and in the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia during the remainder of the war. 

On July 30 the Federal forces at Petersburg exploded a mine 
under the Confederate fortifications, hoping immediately there- 
Battie of after to break through before the Confederate troops 

the Crater, f • * i i i • 

July 30, 1864 could rccovcr from the surprise. Although a great pit 
or crater was blown up in the Confederate lines with some loss of 
life and munitions of war, the Federal troops were repulsed and 
lost thousands of men in the midst of the crater they had made. 

The ''Battle of the Crater" ended the active fighting of Grant 
before Petersburg in 1864. The Federal general had failed in 
Grant Chang- cvcry attempt to crush Lee by frontal assault, and he 
fron?^assauS had bccu equally unsuccessful in endeavoring to flank 
to siege j^-j^ jjg ^^^^ proposed to hold Petersburg in a state 

of siege and to extend his larger forces both to the right and to 
the left, in order to draw out Lee's diminishing numbers in a 
constantly expanding line of defense. 

229. Sherman's Campaign in the West and the South, 1864. — 
In the west General Sherman had under his direction the Army of 
the Cumberland, the Army of the Tennessee, and the Army of 
the Ohio. He followed a policy similar to that adopted later by 
Grant against Lee in that he employed one large force, the Army 
of the Cumberland, to press Johnston in front, while he used other 
forces to outflank the Confederates and to get in their rear. 

Sherman assaulted the Confederate lines at Dalton, Georgia, 
on May 8 and 9 without success, after which he turned the flank 
Fighting at and threatened the rear of Johnston in the neighbor- 

Dalton, Re- . 

sac a, and hood of Rcsaca. This movement compelled Johnston 

Iv G n G S cl w 

Mountain to fall back to that point, where further severe fighting 

M a y a n d 

June, 1864 took placc without definite result, until Sherman again 
outflanked Johnston and approached the latter's rear. In every 
case where Sherman's superior forces were able to outflank the 
Confederates, Johnston retired. In the battle of Kenesaw Moun- 
tain on June 27, Sherman assaulted Johnston's position, but 
was repulsed with severe losses. During this campaign the Con- 







SHERMAN'S CAMPAIGN IN THE WEST AND SOUTH 311 

federate ''warrior bishop," General Leonidas Polk, was killed.^ 
Unsuccessful in frontal attacks, Sherman resumed flanking 
tactics, and Johnston was compelled to retire to Atlanta, which 
he fortified in the hope of holding it and checking Johnston su- 
Sherman's advance. At this time, however, he was Hood 
displaced by General John B. Hood. The latter adopted an 
aggressive policy instead of following John- 
ston's plan of drawing Sherman still farther 
away from his base of supplies. 

Hood, however, was no match for Sherman. 
He was unable to stop the Federal advance, 
and Atlanta was captured. Hood moved 
Atlanta cap- uorthward with the hope of draw- 
tured -j^^g Sherman after him, but the 

latter did not follow, because he felt confident 
that General Thomas was able to cope with 
the Confederate leader and to meet him with Z)Tlano7silT\ 
an equal or superior force in Tennessee. Sher- at?'^' west^ iSnt^illo" 
F r 1 Vk 1 il ^^^'^ judgment proved correct, for ^^^"^^^^'tl^ 

Nov. 30 ^ after the stubbornly fought but --fh. Kan.^:juperinten^^^ 

indecisive battle of Frankhn on November 30, ^^ Louisiana; returned 

' north and was appointed 

between Hood's army and a Federal force brtt^ie^of^uu Run^"a°fter^ 
under General Schofield, Thomas joined Scho- ^^^-d? served with distinc- 

' J tion in the west, and was 

, , . field, and together they defeated ^^v^fy. promoted; ap- 

Nashville ' ^ "^ pointed bngadier-general, 

Dec. 15, 16; Hood ou Deccmbcr 15 and 16 in 1^^?^^° i864-i865 

Johnston re- marched through centre 

stored to the battle of Nashville, after which «f Jt''''^^'^';'■^7v, ^""""^ ^H 

command northwest to the sea and 

the shattered Confederate army re- \^ North Carolina, where 

^ he received the surrender 

treated to Tupelo in Mississippi. When the gt^o^TrU is^isel' "^fiiS 
news of this irreparable Confederate disaster is^i- 
reached Richmond, Lee had been made commander-in-chief of all 
the Confederate forces, and Johnston was restored by him to the 
command of the remnant of the southern army. 

^ Before taking a clergyman's orders, Polk was graduated at West Point; 
and in 1857 he founded the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee. 



312 LINCOLN ADMINISTRATION; CAMPAIGNS OF 1864 

Hood's advance into Tennessee had left Sherman with- 
out opposition in Georgia, except for a small force of cavalry 
Sherman imdcr General Joseph Wheeler and some Georgia 

continues ... . , ii- 

march to militia. Sherman now determmed to lead his army 
1864 * from Atlanta to the sea. After destroying the 

greater portion of Atlanta, he began an almost unimpeded 
march to Savannah. He 






reached this city on Sep- 
tember 21, and there pre- 
pared to take up the march, )~^ j 
finished in the following year, 
through the Carolinas. 




Sherman's march, Atlanta to raleigh 

230. Naval Operations. — In August, 1864, Admiral Farragut 
repeated the tactics which had been so successful at New Orleans 
Farragut at in 1862. Hc ran past the forts of Mobile harbor__and 
1864' ^' '^^' defeated a small Confederate fleet. He was'"riot, how- 
ever, as in the case of New Orleans, able to capture the city. 

Southern officers who resigned their commands of Federal 
battleships prior to the breaking out of 'the war first turned over 
the ships to the Federal government. Consequently, the Southern 
States went into the conflict without a navy. Nevertheless, the 
Confederate government set to work to fit out such vessels as it 
could, and to make arrangements in foreign countries for the 



NAVAL OPERATIONS 



313 



construction of others. The most famous of these Confederate 
commanders was Captain (later Rear-Admiral) Ra- semmes and 
phael Semmes, who first commanded the Sumter, con- erlte^s°telm- 
structed in the South; and later the Alabama, built at ^'' ^^"^"'"^ 
Liverpool, England. The latter, under either sail or steam, 
terrorized the merchant marine of the United States in every 
water route known to trade. As the Confederates w^re unable 
to take their prizes into neutral ports for adjudication, the Alabama 




DAVID G. FARRAGUT COMMANDING HIS FLAGSHIP IN ACTION 

was compelled to burn them at sea, and this single vessel during 
the two years of its career almost destroyed the Atlantic commerce 
of the United States. After sinking the United States cruiser 
Hatteras, off Galveston, it was itself sunk off the coast of France 
by the United States warship Kearsarge.^ 

•5 Both were wooden vessels, but Captain Winslow of the Kearsarge had 
protected the more vulnerable portions of his ship by iron chains skilfully 
concealed by planks. 

The Confederate cruiser Shenmidoah also had a remarkable career, con- 
tinuing its ojwrations in the Pacific long after the surrender at Appomattox. 
A\'hen it learned of the fall of the Confederacy, it directed its course to Euro- 
pean waters and furled the last Confederate flag as late as November 6, 1865. 




314 LINCOLN ADMINISTRATION; CAMPAIGNS OF 1864 

In 1864, the six-year term of the Confederate President not 
having expired, there were no elections in the South. In the 
Re-election North, however, President Lincoln was renominated 

of Fresident 

Lincoln, 1864 by the RepubHcans, with Andrew Johnson of Tennes- 
see as their candidate for Vice-President. The Democrats nomi- 
nated General George B. McClellan of New Jersey and George H. 
Pendleton of Ohio. The election resulted in 
an overwhelming victory for Lincoln and 
Johnson. In the same year Nevada was ad- 
mitted to the Union as the thirty-sixth State. 
Summary. — The year ended with the Con- 
federacy cut in two along the line of the Mis- 
sissippi, and the eastern half in turn divided 
by Sherman's operations. The defeat of Hood 
by Thomas in Tennessee had well nigh de- 
^' stroyed effective opposition to Federal arms 

N. B. FORREST jj^ thc wcst, cxccpt by small but active forces 
Ten"'' ?u'fv'1.3^''ii2i' of lufautry and cavalry under Generals Rich- 
^^iZ "l"'w\'d o^'i d ard Taylor, E. Kirby Smith, and N. B. Forrest. 
rsl'in=AreS'JtndiaTi; Lcc's army at Petersburg, confronted by a 
fedtrSlrser^icf L'triva?; determined opponent, was daily depleted by 
ied^a^^kvafry''''reghne7t1 battle, dlseasc, and inability to maintain its 
fiI'''lupeHor''"offic^'rs''''at uormal Strength on insufficient food and cloth- 
Sv^urroTeTatidiyt' ing. The extrcmcly limited transportation 
f a" e r! He'liS'S-geneSd; facilities of the South had almost wholly given 
^irrs^'caviirrie^adi'^wftt out, aud materials for repairs could not be 
hisTafelr^cipuTiJd slooo had. Couscquently, neither its armies in the 
Ge^eS' wilLonr'^Sai t, field uor the prisoners in the various camps 
1865. Died 1877. ^^^j^| ^^ propcrly fed. Moreover, the non- 

combatant population in the wake of the invading armies- was 
destitute. Grant was well aware of these conditions and relied 
upon them as much as upon the courage and ability of his troops 
to effect the ultimate downfall of the Confederacy. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 315 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. In the War of LS12 American boys played a part in naval combats 
(see Sidelights and Suggestions, Chapter XVHI). The War of Secession, 
however, presents the only instance in modern history where a battalion of 
boys, for the most part ranging in age from 14 to 17, was called upon to take 
an equal part in battle with veterans and against veterans in a military cam- 
paign. The boys were cadets of the Virginia Military Institute, and the 
campaign in which they figured was that against General Franz Sigel, who 
was endeavoring, in 1864, to cut off Lee's communications in the Valley of 
Virginia. In the battle of New Market on May 15, these cadets were called 
upon to take a prominent part in a charge against a particularly effective 
Federal battery on the crest of a hill opposite the Confederate lines. One- 
fifth of the cadets fell on the field of battle killed or wounded, but their line 
never wavered. Advancing as if on dress parade, they captured a part of 
the battery and did their full share in driving back the Federal army toward 
Winchester. Two future United States Senators participated in this battle. 
One of these. Colonel Henry A. DuPont, of Delaware, had but recently been 
graduated at the head of his class at West Point; he was in command of a bat- 
tery of artillery which arrested the Confederate advance toward the close of the 
battle and covered the Federal retreat.^ The other was Charles J. Faulkner, 
afterwards Senator from West Virginia, a cadet in the Institute battalion. 

2. General Lew Wallace, in command of the Federal forces at Monocacy in 
Maryland (Sec. 228) became, later, the author of the famous story "Ben Hur." 

3. A mention of authorship in this connection brings to mind that the 
W^ar of Secession was the fruitful theme of a great deal of poetry. "My Mary- 
land" by James R. Randall, adapted to the German ''Tannenbaum, O Tan- 
nenbaum," is now become a nationally popular air. Julia Ward Howe com- 
posed the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." T. B. Read ^\Tote the popular 
verses entitled "Sheridan's Ride." Whittier (see p. 264) wrote "Barbara 
Fritchie," an attractive poem descriptive of an incident which is wholly fic- 
titious, but which Whittier believed at the time to be founded on fact. Other 
poets who WTote of war times or who fought in the ranks and gained their 
fame from later verses are: Sidney Lanier, Paul Hamilton Hayne, E. C. 
Stedman, Will Henry Thomson, Henry Timrod, Walt Whitman. 

' One of the best descriptions of their charge is that by Captain Frank- 
lin E. Town, Chief Signal Officer of Sigel's army, who witnessed the charge. 
Part of this account is quoted in "The New Market Campaign" by E. R. 
Turner (University of Michigan). Another account is given by John S. Wise 
(one of the Virginia cadets) in "The Battle of New Market." EarUer de- 
scriptions may be found in "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War," Vol. IV. 



CHAPTER XXXII 



Administration of Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865; The War 
OF Secession — Campaigns of 1865 — End of the War 

231. Sherman's Advance, 1865. — On February 7, Sherman 
began the second part of his march to the sea, from Savannah to 
Charleston, during which he inflicted upon South Carolina wide- 
spread destruction of property. Columbia was laid in ashes, and, 
on February 17, Charleston was evacuated by 
the Confederates. 

Johnston had now replaced Hood in com- 
mand of the forces gathered to oppose Sher- 
man in his march northward from Charleston. 
Early in the spring several days' fighting 
occurred in the neighborhood of Battle of 

^ Bentonville; 

Bentonville, N. C, where Sher- advance of 

Sc h of leld 

man's progress was temporarily and Cox 
checked. Johnston, however, was finally 
compelled to retreat, and less than 200 miles 
^'^"Ir^ved separated the armies of Sherman in North 




idy 

orchestra, Baltimore; lec- 
turer on English literature 
at Johns Hopkins Univer- 
sity; adapted several his- 
torical works for the 
young; noted for the mel- 
ody 



SIDNEY LANIER 

Born Macon, Ga., Feb 
ruary 3, 1842 
Oglethorpe College; st 

aL^'yt' m'embe^""peabody Carolina aud Grant in Virginia. In addition, 
a Federal army from the west under General 
Schofield occupied Wilmington, while still 
another force under General Cox was march- 

poems^on naTur^'^Diel iHg from Ncw Bcme to mcct Sherman at 

North Carolina, 1881. GoldsborO. 

232. Lee Appointed Confederate Commander=in=chief. — The 

situation of the Confederacy was now desperate. The plan of 
Lee, who in February had been made commander-in-chief of all 
the Confederate forces, was to withdraw his army from the 
neighborhood of Petersburg and Richmond before it was cut off 
316 



I 



CLOSE OF THE WAR 



317 



by the overwhelming force of Grant. This he had intended 

doing earher in the winter, but, because of the scarcity of for- 
age, the enfeebled horses could not draw the baggage Remarkable 

• 1 . • r n T , • ? , • devotion of 

trains and munitions ot war. Moreover, his soldiers Lee's army 

had suffered so greatly from lack of clothing, food, and medicine, 

that thousands of them were incapacitated 

for active service. The winter had been a 

severe one and the Confederate army had 

passed through privations and sufferings 

such as no other large body of American 

soldiers had ever been called upon to endure, 

while all the time their lines had to be 

extended to meet the constant flanking 

movements of the Federal forces.^ 

233. Close of the War, 1865. — As Lee was 
unable to move his army on account of the 

condition of his men and horses and the bad Born Albany, n. y., 

^ ^ . ^, 111 11 J. March 6, 1831. Was grad- 

state 01 the roads, he planned a desperate uated at West Point, i853; 

^ Til 111' p ^^^ ^'"^t active service of 

movement to break through the lines oi war of Secession in Mis- 

^ .„ /-w,i •!, r i\. T .1 souri; received promotions 

Grant in his front. On the night or March and was appointed major- 

^_ ^ . , T 1 -Tk /-i 1 Til general of volunteers, 18G2; 

25, General John 13. Gordon was directed until i864, served with 

-r^ . cij_ ^ distinction in the great 

Assault upon tO make aU attack UpOU 1 Ort btcd- campaigns of the west; 

FortSted- . t-ii ii- t-i^ transferred to the east in 

man, Mar. 25 man WlthlU the 1 Cdcral llUCS. lort 1864; appointed a briga- 

, J.1 i dier-general in regular 

fetedman was captured, but, owing partly to army, later major-general; 

-.. ,, ^,. .. iir-ii'i was prominent in driving 

contusion and loss ot direction, the Gonted- the Confederate general 

,,,,,,., ... 1 Early from Valley of Vir- 

erates were unable to hold the position, and ginia, which he then laid 

^ . T -, n rn • i waste; appointed Com- 

were driven back atter sutiermg severe losses, mander of the Fifth Miii- 

-r • 1 , • c r-ii ) -1 tary District in the South 

In consideration ot bherman s rapid prog- after the war. Died isss. 




PHILIP H. SHERIDAN 



1 During this winter General Lee was forced on some occasions to dine on 
parched corn only, which, it is said, he was compelled to take from his famous 
horse, Traveller. Many of the men were barefooted, and wherever they moved 
they left blood-stained tracks on the frozen ground. Medicines were rendered 
scarcer throughout the South than they otherwise would have been by reason 
of an order on the part of the Federal government to treat medical supplies 
as contraband of war. 



318 



ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



gress northward through the Carohnas, Grant determined to 
assume the aggressive before Lee could seize an opportunity 

Accordingly, with Sheridan 



Lee's lines to attack or to retire. 

Battle of in advance, he moved upon Lee on the 29th of 

Five Forks, 
March 29 



line of 



March at Five Forks, where Sheridan broke Lee's 

defense and carried by assault the Confederate en- 

- - trenchments at Petersburg. Both Peters- 

""^^''^N^ burg and Richmond were evacu- Petersburg 

_j| ated on the night of the 2nd of S^ond^iacu: 

^"^ M \ April, and the latter city was ^^"""^ 

partly destroyed by fire brought on by the 
burning of public stores to prevent them 
from falling into the hands of the Federal 
troops.^ Lee concluded to make a retreat 
by the way of the Danville railroad and to 
effect a junction with Johnston in North 
Pri'ncT^E'dward Carolina. His soldiers, however, were with- 
fs'^r'^^bldua^f ofwest out food aud he was compelled to wait for 
Sct?rin"sere?ai1n' supplics. This dcky gave the Fcdcrals oppor- 




agai 

afterwards transferred to 
the West; was fighting and 
conducting strategic re- 
treat before the superior 



tunity to throw a large force in his path. 
The Federal troops pressed the Confederates 



dian wars and under Scott 
in Mexican campaign; was 
general of Confederate 
forces in the East until 

""■""nst'Mccreiianln^lifi! wlth vigor, but at Farmvillc the remnant of 
the Army of Northern Virginia turned upon 
their pursuers and for a time drove them back 

when' r°en?ov'eT?r''om com- m a last dcspcratc display of unavailing valor. 

"andb;tee"nFlbru'a°r"; This final SUCCCSS, hoWCVer, rCSUltcd iu 

ifan^n"5ortrU°roUnI: the loss of auothcr day in the effort to join 
April 26. Died 1891. ' johustou. The Confederate army had been 
reduced to a few thousand half-famished men, of whom a number 
were too weak to carry arms. Concluding, therefore, that further 
fighting would involve a useless sacrifice of life, or else the irregular 
and prolonged warfare of small bands of troops, Lee determined 
upon surrender. In consequence of this decision, the Confederate 

2 The Federal troops entering the city did everything possible to prevent 
the spread of the fire. 



CLOSE OF THE WAR 



319 



leader, on April 9, met General Grant at Appomattox Court House, 
where the terms of surrender were formally arranged. The condi- 
Surrender of tlous named bv Grant I 

Lee s army, 

April 9, 1865 were generous and re- : 
fleeted great credit upon the 
mind and heart of the victor. 
Officers and men were paroled 
and given permission to depart 
for their homes, and to take 
with them their side arms and 
horses. The half-starved Con- 
federates were given food from 
the Federal supply wagons, and 
General Grant did not permit 
his troops to celebrate their 
triumph in the face of their 
vanquished fellow -Americans. 
Hence, after four years of fierce 
fighting and arduous service, 
Lee's great Army of Northern 
Virginia was disbanded; 
through their silent ranks 
their commander rode to Rich- 
mond ; and the war was practi- 
cally ended. Seventeen days 
later Johnston surrendered to 
Sherman; Jefferson Davis was 
taken prisoner in Georgia on 
May 11; and General E. Kirby Smith surrendered the last con- 
siderable Confederate force at Baton Rouge on May 26.^ 

3 General Richard Taylor, who was a son of President Zachary Taylor, 
surrendered a Confederate army to General Canby in /Alabama on May 8. 
The last engagement of the war occurred at Palmito Ranch, Tex., where a 
Confederate force defeated a body of Federal troops on I\Iay 13, 1865, the 
victors learning from their prisoners that the Southern Confederacy had faljen. 




From photograph taken after the War of Secession; per- 
haps never before reproduced 

Born Westmoreland County, Va., January 
19, 1807. Was graduated second in class at 
West Point in 1829; served with marked dis- 
tinction under Scott in War with Mexico, 
1847; brevetted major at Cerro Gordo, lieu- 
tenant-colonel at Contreras, and colonel at 
Chapu! tepee; superintendent West Point, 
1852-1855; at outbreak of War of Secession, 
declined command of Federal army and re- 
signed to enter service of his State; appointed, 
1862, to command Army of Northern \'irginia; 
after the war became president of Washington 
College, Lexington, Va. Died October 12, 1870. 



320 



ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



234. Thirteenth Amendment Passed by Congress, 1865. — In 

the meantime Congress had passed the Thirteenth Amendment 
to the Constitution, prohibiting slavery forever, and the amend- 
ment was presented to the State legislatures for ratification.^ 

235. Assassination of President Lincoln, April 14, 1865. — In 

the midst of the rejoicing at the North over the surrender of Lee, 
the entire country was horrified by the insane deed of an actor, 




LAST FORMAL 



GIVEN AT THE WHITE HOUSE BY PRESIDENT LINCOLN 



John Wilkes Booth, who, on the night of April 14, shot Abraham 
Lincoln soon after the President had entered Ford's theatre in 
Washington. President Lincoln 'died early the following morning, 
being the first President of the United States to suffer death at 
the hands of an assassin. 

From the moment that the murderer of President Lincoln 
leaped from the stage of the theatre, he was hotly pursued, to- 

^ Efforts had been made during the early part of February to bring about 
peace. President Lincoln and Secretary Seward met Vice-President Stephens 
of the Confederacy and others, for a conference on board a steamer at Fortress 
Monroe. The conference, however, bore no results. 



ASSASSINATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 321 

gether with his several accompHces, one of whom had tried to 
kill Secretary Seward. On the 25th of April, nearly two weeks 
later, Booth was surrounded in a barn near Fredericksburg. Upon 
his refusal to surrender, he was shot. Other conspirators were 
captured and hanged. 

President Lincoln was a man of southern birth and northern 
training, and had he been permitted to carry out his plans of 
reconciliation, the crimes and blunders of reconstruc- Lamentable 

results of the 

tion in the South would not have been perpetrated. Lin- assassination 
coin had desired to preserve the L^nion, and after having accom- 
plished that single purpose, he welcomed peace and the prompt 




FINAL BOMBARDMENT OF FORT FISHER, JANUARY 15, 1805 FORT FISHER GUARDED WILMING- 
TON, N. C, THE LAST PORT OF THE CONFEDERACY ACCESSIBLE TO BLOCKADE RUNNERS 

restoration of the southern States to their former status in the 
Union. He knew the high character of the southern people and 
he was convinced that they would accept the decision of the 
sword in good faith upon the laying down of their arms. As a 
result of his death, the southern States were to be declared out of 
the Union until the Radicals in Congress chose to re-admit them 
after a terrible era of misgovernment and oppression. 

With regard to the emancipated negroes, Lincoln's desire had 
been to admit to political rights only the more intelligent; the 
rest he thought unfit for civic privileges. This policy of adaptation 
to new conditions would have had the approval of the best south- 
ern sentiment; for, except as an incident of the struggle, the 




CONFEDERATE FLAGS 



322 ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

South had not contended for the perpetuation of slavery, while 
the final abolition of slavery freed the South from economic 
and political conditions that were injurious to its growth and 
prosperity. 

236. Summary. — It is estimated that nearly 3,000,000 men 
were enlisted in this greatest war of modern times. 2,200,000 
were in the Federal armies, and from 600,000 to 900,000 were 
engaged in the service of the Confederacy. Over half a million 
men on the Union side had died in battle or from disease, while 
about three hundred thousand Confeder- 
ates had perished. The Union navy had 
grown from small beginnings to a total of 
700 ships at the close of the war, including 
75 iron-clads. Against these the Confeder- 
ates had equipped 11 warships of varying 
strength and several small fleets of gunboats, 
The flag on the left is which wcrc used in defense of their harbors. 
F?a7'^of?he confedfrac'^' The moucy cost of the war to the United 
''^tLr.and 'iSars,^' tl Statcs govcmment had run into billions of 
minded' in^'islJl fofX dollars, Icaviug the country with a heavy 
A£erica.''''sfnce^te?oio?s national debt. The Southern Confederacy 
blue Tome''ehan^el''we''re had au cstlmatcd expenditure of nearly two 
?86tal"d?n%86f;o':fold billious of doUars, which docs uot includc 
Safel'flag'''''The^hi?teen the Immcuse dcstructiou of property in that 
£n stX^daTmed'b^'the" scctiou, wrought chicfly by the armies of 
Confederacy Sherman, Sheridan, and Hunter. 

Although war cannot determine a question of right or the 
justice of one issue or another, the conflict did decide that the 
view of the Union entertained by Presidents Jackson and Lincoln 
was to prevail. The view, therefore, evolved by growth and new 
conditions, that the country was a unit, overcame the generally 
accepted view of the founders of the L^nion, that the Constitution 
was a compact from which the States could withdraw. Incidentally 
to settling the question of secession, the war ended forever the 
vexing question of slavery, which had differentiated the sections, 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 323 

had made their pursuits and customs diverge, and had obscured 
in the minds of many the tremendous economic and political 
issues at stake. 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

L A former editor of the Boston Herald suggested that the preceding 
chapters on the War of Secession be entitled "Administrations of Abraham 
Lincoln and Jefferson Davis," and that the current of United States history 
be thereby represented as divided during the period of conflict, to unite again 
in 1865. 

2. One of the most unhappy features of the war was the hardship of 
prison life on either side. Over fifty thousand men died in confinement or 
captivity during the war, the number of deaths being about equally divided 
between Northern and Southern prisons. This total is terrible to think about, 
and the causes have been explained at length and in great bitterness of spirit 
by the earlier writers on this subject. Two tributes from one side to the good 
offices and kindness of a single commandant on the other have, in later years, 
reflected credit on both. A Union officer confined amid the suffering thou- 
sands at Anderson ville, Ga., has written a heartfelt testimonial to the humanity 
of the commander in charge. On the other hand, subscriptions were raised 
throughout the South to erect a memorial to Colonel Owen, Commandant at 
Camp IVIorton. This unique memorial was erected in 1913 at Indianapolis, 
largely through the efforts of Colonel S. A. Cunningham, a former prisoner 
at Camp Morton. 

3. In a series of Oxford University lectures delivered in IMay, 1913, and 
in a Johns Hopkins University course in the following year, Charles Francis 
Adams emphasized and developed the significance of an economic and political 
theory very generally held in the lower South, to the effect that the inter- 
ruption of the cotton supply for any considerable length of time, in case of 
secession, would compel foreign nations, particularly Great Britain, to inter- 
vene and recognize the seceding States. Such recognition would have virtually 
assured the independence of the Confederacy, since in that event the Federal 
government could not have maintained the blockade. Cotton would have 
gone out freely from southern ports in exchange for gold, munitions of war, 
and supplies of every description. This beUef in the power of "King Cotton" 
was not without a basis in actual conditions. 

The cutting off of the cotton supply consequent on the breaking out of 
hostilities in April, 1861, produced in the textile districts of Great Britain 
unprecedented distress among the thousands of operatives there. It so 
chanced, however, that there was an overproduction of manufactured cotton 



324 ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

goods during the three years previous to the war, and the world then had on 
hand a supply which could not be disposed of, sufficient, it was estimated, 
to meet the requirements of not less than three years. The manufacturers, 
therefore, welcomed an opportunity to rid themselves of this surplus and 
quietly opposed intervention in American affairs. Except, perhaps, this 
element, the sympathies of what were known as the " governing classes" of 
Great Britain were distinctly in favor of the Confederacy, and its successful 
establishment was confidently expected. On the other hand, the sympathies 
of the masses of the English people, influenced largely by the wide reading of 
"Uncle Tom's Cabin," were with the North, because of an underlying convic- 
tion that the war was being waged on the question of slavery. On the question 
of recognition or mediation the British Cabinet was divided in opinion; 
and, at one time (October, 1862), some action favorable to such a pohcy 
was seriously considered. 

After careful investigation in 1913 and 1914 of original material either 
hitherto overlooked by or inaccessible to historians, Mr. Adams took the view 
that the deciding factor in determining the question involved lay in the out- 
come of the struggle carried on in the Lancashire manufacturing districts. 
Because of the exceptional conditions described above, the ''Cotton King" 
of the South yielded ultimately to the superior force of the Sea-Power of the 
North. 






CHAPTER XXXIII 

Administration of Andrew Johnson, 1865-1869; Conflict 
WITH Congress; Beginnings of Reconstruction 

237. Views and Proposed Policies of President Johnson. — 

Upon the death of President Lincoln, Andrew Johnson took the 
oath of office as President. Elected prior to the war as a Senator 
from Tennessee, he had refused to withdraw upon the secession 
of his State. He was now desirous of taking up, in a large measure, 
the policies of his predecessor. These policies had been based 
upon the speediest possible way to secure reconciliation of the 
South and the restoration of Federal authority with the least 
possible Federal interference in the States concerned. 

Some steps had been taken by Lincoln toward reconstruction 
in the South. In December, 1863, he had issued a proclamation 
of amnest}^ to the majority of persons in the South who Re const ruc- 
would swear loyalty to the Federal government. This viousiy be- 

. gunbvPresi- 

was intended especially to apply to those portions of dent Lincoln 
the South that had passed under Federal control. The proclama- 
tion had further stated that a State government might be estab- 
lished by the vote of one-tenth of the number of voters registered 
in 1860, but Congress was to determine the admission of Federal 
representatives from those States. President Lincoln had merely 
suggested extending the privilege of voting to some of the more 
intelligent negroes. Under this plan, governments were, by the 
close of the war, established in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennes- 
see; but Congress had denied admission to their representatives. 
In the meantime Congress had passed a reconstruction measure, 
known as the Wade-Davis bill, providing, among other things, 
for the complete abolition of slavery. This was opposed by Lin- 
coln chiefly on the ground that Congress had no constitutional 
authority to interfere with slavery in the States. Congress, 
therefore, on February 1, 1865, passed the Thirteenth Amend- 

325 



326 



xlDMINISTRATION OF ANDREW JOHNSON 






ment to the Constitution, which, after the approval of the legis- 
latures of three-fourths of the States, abolished slavery by De- 
cember 18 of the same year. This method of abolishing slavery 
had been endorsed ])y Lincoln. It was a victory for his policies, 
but in Congress there was a restless element of radical Republi- 
cans who had begun to oppose the Presi- 
dent. His plans had frequently been ham- 
pered by these men, and, in many cases, 
Lincoln had felt obliged to yield to or to 
compromise with them in order successfully 
to accomplish his larger purposes. Upon 
the death of Lincoln, the radical Republicans 
began to extol the dead President and at the 
same time to attack his policies. 

On May 29 President Johnson issued a 
proclamation of amnesty and pardon to 




ANDREW JOHNSON 

Born Raleigh, N. C. 



der the plan proposed by Lincoln •^°^'^'°" ^*- 
had been excluded from its pro- 



tempts to 

carry out 
Lincoln's 



a tau^r bV trade, but en- formcr Confederates, which, however, in- 

tered politics in Tennessee i xi t j_ /■ ii i 

as ardent supporter of CreaSCd tllC list of thoSC who, UU- President 

Andrew Jackson; was 

elected to State legislature 

inl835andinl839; elected 

to Congress, 1843-1853; 

SrSd cZlMlTse of visions. At the same time, John- ^^'^^^^^ 

1850; governor of Tennes- 
see, 1853-1857; United 
States senator, 1857-1862; 
refused to go with State in 
secession; appointed mili- 
tary governor of Tennes- 
see; elected Vice-President 
with Lincoln in 1864; suc- 
ceeded to Presidency oa 
death of latter, 1865; dis- 

Slty1n^c?nTess^°on ''leading traitors of the rebellion," although 
Sr'escapi^g'^rTmovai later hc took practically the same stand as 

from office. Died 1875. his prcdcCCSSOr. 

When Congress assembled in December, the southern States 
had formally withdra^vn their ordinances of secession, had or- 
Thirteenth gauizcd regular governments, and were preparing to 
fiJJro^vtd^ bi? resume their former position in the Union. The votes 
the States ^£ somc of them were also necessary to secure the pas- 
sage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution abolish- 



son appointed temporary governors to com- 
plete the reorganization of the seceding 
States. At first Johnson was inclined to 
be much harsher than Lincoln and was 
disposed to punish whom he termed the 



PLAN OF CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION 327 

ing slavery, and already a sufficient number had ratified the 
amendment to make it a part of the Constitution. 

238. General Plan of Congressional Reconstruction. — Con- 
gress, controlled by the radical Republicans, was not ready to 
accept Lincoln's or Johnson's policies, which seemed to them 
likel}^ to turn the governments of the southern States over to an 
element politically opposed to the party in power. The majority, 
therefore, passed over the President's veto a number of measures 
intended to place the States under Republican domination: (1) 
by the disfranchisement of a large proportion of southern whites; 
(2) by granting the suffrage to all negroes regardless of the quali- 
fications or limitations suggested by Lincoln; and (3) by declar- 
ing the southern States out of the Union until they should accept 
or ratify the terms laid do^^ai by Congress. 

In April, 1866, Congress passed the Civil Rights Bill, which 
granted civil rights to the freed negroes. This bill provided 
also for the restoration of the vote to the citizens of the Negro citi- 

. 1 • 1 zenship and 

southern States, reservmg, however, the right to ex- partial white 

, , . 1 ii- disfranchise- 

clude those who had participated m rebellion or other ment 
crime." These provisions became a part of the Fourteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution, which was then submitted to 
the State legislatures. 

Teimessee ratified the Fourteenth Amendment, but the other 
southern States voted against it chiefly on the ground of its dis- 
franchisement clause. Congress accordingly declared southern 
that Tennessee was admitted into the Union, and pro- ci^arll otft^of 
posed to take over the governments of the remainder *^^ ^"^^^^ 
of the southern States. These were, therefore, divided into five 
military districts, each of which was placed under the control of a 
general of the United States army, who was given almost auto- 
cratic power. Under this military organization and control, 
reconstruction was carried on in accordance with the Congres- 
sional plan. The actual exercise of government was, as a rule, 
under the direction of unprincipled adventurers from the North, 
aided by a vicious element from the whites of the South. These 




328 ADMINISTRATION OF ANDREW JOHNSON 

managed the negro vote, and directed it to their own purposes 
and profit. Subsequently, constitutional conventions were held 
and the requirements laid down by Congress were acceded to by 
the State legislatures of Arkansas, North Carolina, South Caro- 
lina, Florida, and Louisiana; or they were declared by Congress 
to be ratified regardless of the returns, as in Alabama. 

In February, 1869, Congress proposed 
the Fifteenth Amendment, w^hich declared 
that the "right of citizens of the United 
States to vote shall not be denied Fifteenth 
or abridged ... on account of ^-^-dment 
race, color, or previous condition of servi- 
tude." This amendment was ratified by the 
reconstructed legislatures of Texas, Missis- 
sippi, Virginia, and Georgia; and military 
rule came to an end in those States. 
ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS jj^ thc case of ucaHy all of the reconstruc- 

viife?™Ga°r^Fe£iraTy°'^in ^^^^ measures then put into effect, a sub- 
llnv in^Gelfrgiaf eiSd stautlal majority in Congress was at odds 

pose'Jrtrreit^ened'LX with President JohuSOU. This .ma- T^nur^e of 

lllor^roLr/ZTJof Jority attempted to deprive the 1867^ ' ' 
s^reTarPaTJ'advocltid President of part of his power by the passage 
S'lsfr^S^r^'ffrom'coi" of the Tcuure of Office Act, which forbade 
fSnllei^bTJ^tfw^^^^^ the President to remove any government 
Pr^idlnt'ofSfederacy; official without the couseut of the Scnatc. 
SflercTose^of^war ^d'^e" The President did not consider the Act consti- 
tutional. Disregarding its provisions, there- 
fore, he suspended and later removed Secre- 
gia.1882. Died 1883. ^^^^ Stautou from office. The House of 
Representatives now instituted proceedings before the Congress at- 

^ ^ ^ tempt a to 

Senate to impeach the President, alleging that he remove the 

^ 7 o o President 

was guilty of ''high crimes and misdemeanors" in from office 
opposing Congress and through violation of the Tenure of 
Office Act. The trial lasted from March 30 to May 16, 186S, 
and resulted in the acquittal of the President, although but one 



leased on parole; returned 
to Congress after Recon- 
st ruction, 1877-1882; 
elected governor of Geor 



J 



ELECTIONS OF 1868 329 

additional vote was needed to convict the chief Executive of 
the RepubUc and to remove him from office. 

239. Foreign Affairs. — During the progress of the War of 
Secession, Napoleon III, Emperor of France, had, in cooperation 
with English and Spanish forces, entered upon a military cam- 
paign in Mexico for the collection of debts. The Spanish and the 
English withdrew, but Napoleon seized the opportunity to set 
up a monarchy in Mexico under Archduke Maximilian of Austria, 
who resigned his hereditary rights to become the Emperor of 
Mexico. After the close of the War of Secession, the United 
States government protested so vigorously against this European 
interference in the Americas that the French army was with- 
draA\Ti from the support of the former Archduke. Maximilian 
was defeated and slain, and the previously existing form of govern- 
ment was restored. 

In 1867 Secretary Seward negotiated a treaty with Russia 
by the terms of which the United States government ^f^J'/j^^'^^'j" 
purchased Alaska for the sum of $7,200,000. ise? ^' 

240. Elections of 1868.— In 1868 the Republicans nominated 
General Ulysses S. Grant and Schuyler Colfax of Indiana as their 
candidates for President and Vice-President. The Democrats 
nominated Horatio Sej^mour of New York and Francis P. Blair 
of Missouri. Grant and Colfax were elected by a large majority. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Chapter XXXIII cannot give more than a brief outline of the various 
phases of the Reconstruction era. At this period of United States history 
the legislative department of the Federal government dominated the execu- 
tive and influenced the action of the judiciary; although the latter, by some of 
its decisions, checked the more radical tendencies of Congress toward con- 
centrating in the Federal government many of the rights and prerogatives 
hitherto exercised without question by the States. In this way, the United 
States Supreme Court stood in the way of the efforts of the more radical 
Republicans to force Federal control of the elections and police regulations 
of the southern States, a control advocated on the ground that the freedmen 



330 ADMINISTRATION OF ANDREW JOHNSON 

were either intimidated at the polls or were deprived of their newly granted 
rights and privileges. 

2. During the struggle between Congress and President Johnson, the 
former provided for the calling of its own extra sessions, a function exercised 
by the Executive both before and since that time. The majority in control 
of Congress at this time feared the action of President Johnson during the 
summer of 1867; the thirty-ninth Congress, therefore, called the fortieth in 
extra session, beginning March 4 of that 3'ear. 

3. Although twice "reorganized," Georgia was the last of the seceding 
States to receive final admission into the Union. This took place July 15, 
1870, over five years after the close of the war. During reconstruction times 
in that State, Governor C. J. Jenkins, continuing in office under the Lincoln- 
Johnson plan, was, by military authority, ordered to approve the payment 
for convention expenses of a very large draft upon the State treasury. Gov- 
ernor Jenkins at once left the State, carrying with him the executive seal 
and $400,000 in cash. Upon the restoration of normal conditions, the former 
governor returned the seal, while the money had been kept by him intact 
lor the State. His unique act was afterwards gratefullj^ recognized by the 
legislature of Georgia. 

4. In May, 1867, after two years' imprisonment at Fortress Monroe, 
Jefferson Davis was released under bail and his proposed trial was never pressed 
by the government. His bail of S100,000 was furnished by some of the north- 
ern men who had been the most bitterly opposed to him before and during 
the war. This act on their part was followed in 1874 by a southern- Senator's 
eulogy on the personal qualities of Charles Sumner and marked the dawn of 
the time when each section began the better to understand and appreciate 
the other. 



i 



CHAPTER XXXIV 

Administrations of Ulysses S. Grant, 1869-1877: Conditions 

IN THE Southern States; International Arbitration; 

Corruption in the Federal Government 

241. Reconstruction in the South. — Under Congressional re- 
construction in the South, conditions arose in that section which 
were even more ruinous than actual warfare. The government 
of the southern States was almost wholly in the hands of northern 
adventurers, called ''carpetbaggers;^' the southern allies of the 
former, known as ''scalawags;" and the newly emancipated 
negroes. 

In 1865 an organization called the Freedmen's Bureau had 
been formed for the protection of the negro. The purpose of 
this body as outlined by its founders was laudable and The f reed- 
proper; but, from the beginning, the agents of the andth?Lo>^a1 
Bureau encouraged the negroes to look to it for support ^^^^^^ 
rather than to develop habits of industry and thrift under new 
conditions. Subsequently, the Bureau was directed by design- 
ing and corrupt politicians with the purpose of deluding and 
controlling the negro vote. Many of the negroes were initiated 
into an organization known as the Loyal League, which was in- 
tended to aid this corrupt and ignorant combination of whites 
and blacks in maintaining control of the government. Crimes of 
every kind were committed with impunity, and law-abiding white 
people, together with the better class of negroes, could get no 
redress from courts, judges, or jurors; since these were usually 
the creatures of vicious elements in possession of the machinery 
of the State governments. 

After the close of the war, thousands of negroes had left the 
farms and crowded into the villages and cities, or about the en- 
campments of the Federal troops. Many of them were given 

331 



332 



ADMINISTRATIONS OF ULYSSES S. GRANT 




portions of abandoned or confiscated lands. Others were sup- 
plied with provisions and clothing, while the majority were led 
to believe that the United States government would Vagrancy 

' laws passed 

furnish each negro family with '^ forty acres and a under the 

^ "^ *^ Lincoln- 

mule." The farms in those sections of the South Johnson 

state gov- 

where armies had operated during emments 
the war were almost destitute of buildings, 
fences, and agricultural iniplements. A severe 
drought in the summer of 1865 added to 
the general distress. Subsequently, the legis- 
latures convened under the Lincoln-Johnson 
plan of reconstruction, in order to prevent 
idleness, begging, and consequent crime, 
passed laws to compel the negroes to work. 
These laws declared that negroes who would 
not support themselves should be fined, or, 
in default of payment, be forced to work. 
The vagrancy laws, as they were known, 
alarmed many good people in the North, 
who thought that they were designed to 
reduce the free negroes to a state of bondage. 
The object and nature of these regulations 
were misrepresented by politicians and a 
portion of the press, and the Radicals in 
Congress took advantage of the sentiment 
thus created to refuse to admit to the 
Union the States reconstructed under the 
Lincoln-Johnson policy until they had been 
reorganized under the Congressional plan. 
During these times some of the white people of the South 
organized secret societies, which ultimately helped to save por- 
TheKuKiux tions of the country from absolute anarchy and ruin. 
1869 ' The members of these organizations went about at 

night in disguise, terrifying the evil element in control of the 
government. In many cases the dread inspired by the very 



ULYSSES S. GRANT 

Born Point Pleasant, O., 
April 27, 1S22. Was grad- 
uated at West Point, 1S43; 
served with distinction in 
Mexican War; resigned 
from service in 1854 and 
lived on farm near St. 
Louis, Mo.; after volun- 
teering in War of Secession, 
was appointed brigadier- 
general by Lincoln; 
achieved early successes 
in capture of Forts Henry 
and Donelson: after these 
and other successes in the 
west was appointed lieu- 
tenant-general in 1864, and 
transferred active opera- 
tions to the east against 
Lee, the latter surrender- 
ing to him April 9, 1865, 
practically ending the war; 
elected President in 1868, 
and again in 1872. Died 
Mt. McGregor, N. Y., 
July 23, 1885. 



PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1872 333 

appearance of these bodies of quiet, wliite-sheeted, ghost-like 
men was sufficient to deter evildoers from further crime. In 
some cases, however, in the absence of all chance for justice in 
the courts, severe measures were used and death was visited upon 
offenders; but these instances were rare. The societies, collect- 
ively called the Ku Klux Klan, had been composed principally 
of earnest and conservative men in each community, and were 
formally disbanded early in 1869. Gradually, however, the 
southern States began to free themselves from these terrible 
conditions as military support of the alien element was with- 
drawn, although South Carolina and Louisiana remained under 
carpet-bag rule until freed from that condition by the action of 
President Hayes in 1877.^ 

242. The Alabama Claims. — In 1871 a special treaty was made 
with Great Britain in order to settle questions arising out of the 
damages inflicted by the Alabama and other Confederate ships 
of war upon the commerce of the United States. The United 
States claimed damages because some of these ships had been 
built in British ports. This, it was alleged, the British govern- 
ment should have prevented. It was agreed to submit the dis- 
pute to a tribunal of five, composed of representatives from the 
LTnited States, Great Britain, Italy, Switzerland, and Brazil. 
This tribunal met at Geneva, Switzerland, and awarded to the 
United States damages amounting to $15,500,000. 

243. Presidential Campaign of 1872. — In the presidential 
campaign of 1872, the Republicans renominated General Grant. 

^ The southern students especially should comprehend clearly that the 
clement that had dritted into the south after the war was not typical of the 
northern people. In fact, there is no doubt that it the northern people gen- 
erally had known of the true conditions under reconstruction misrule, they 
would have come to the aid of their fellow-countrymen. These conditions, 
however, were misrepresented to them for many years by the corrupt agencies 
in control of the southern State governments and by a public press much in- 
ferior to that of to-day. In the midst of reconstruction in the south and the 
enfranchisement of the freedmen there, the voters of Ohio rejected negro 
suffrage in that State by a majority of 50,000. 



334 ADMINISTRATIONS OF ULYSSES S. GRANT 



41 




SITTING BULL 



There was, however, considerable dissatisfaction with the attitude 
of the administration toward conditions in the southern States. 
A portion of those who were thus dissatisfied formed the Liberal 
Republican party and nominated Horace Greeley of New York 
for President. The Democrats felt that it was the best policy to 
accept the platform of the Liberal Republicans and to endorse 
their nominees. General Grant, however, was elected by a large 
majority, receiving 286 out of 366 electoral votes. Greeley died 
before the electoral votes were cast, so that 
' the 80 minority votes were scattered.^ 

244c Indian Uprisings, 1871-1876.— 
During Grant's first term the western Indi- 
ans had been badly treated. The Presi- 
dent endeavored to put an end to this evil, 
but the forces of corruption in politics were 
too powerful for him to overcome, and sev- 
eral Indian uprisings followed. The Apaches 
Son of Jumping Bull and oi Arizoua rosc lu revolt in 1871, and the 
novecrsiouiimSn?hie"s; Modoc Indians on the Pacific coast in 
aSiut '?S3^° was ^fwavi 1873; but the severest conflict took place 
Xl-^ was°?r^i'ment*in with the Sioux lu South Dakota in 1876. 
undt^^if/r^Tl'^ompfe'e In this War scveral companies of a cavalry 
?ro"ipl^inT876fesc^Sd to regiment led by General Custer were over- 
Snh't' s^taLs'^'anT'^was powcrcd by the Sioux Indians under their 
killed in 1890. ^YiM, Sitting Bull, and were slain to a man. 

245. Financial Affairs. — The period immediately following 
the war was a time of great corruption in public affairs. It was 
also a period in which there was wild speculation in real estate 
and railroads. In 1873 a great financial crash came, followed by 
distress and suffering throughout the country.^ 

- Some dissenting Democrats nominated Charles O'Connor for President. 
He received, however, no votes in the electoral college. 

3 A part of this governmental corruption became famous under the name 
of the Credit Mobilier cases, referring to the operations of a body of men who 
misappropriated immense sums of money subsoribed for transcontinental 
railroad construction. 



I 



DISPUTED TRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1876 



335 



In 1875 Congress passed an act making provision for the 
redemption in coin of greenbacks issued during and after the war. 
This led in 1879 to the resumption of specie payments, as this 
redemption was called, and to the rise in value of the regularly 
authorized paper money of the government, which, in 1864, had 
reached the low point of 35 cents on the dollar. 




GEXEUAL CUSTER IX A TAKLEY WITU THI 



246. The Disputed Presidential Election of 1876.— In the 
presidential campaign of 1876, many Republicans were in favor 
of nominating General Grant for the third time. This movement, 
however, was successfully resisted by those who opposed the 
establishment of a third term precedent in the presidency of the 



336 



ADMINISTRATIONS OF ULYSSES S. GRANT 



United States. In place of Grant, therefore, the Repubhcans 
nominated General Rutherford B. Hayes for President, and Wil- 
liam A. Wheeler of New York for Vice-President. The Demo- 
crats nominated Samuel J. Tilden of New York and Thomas A. 
Hendricks of Indiana. 

In the election that ensued it seemed at first that Tilden had 
won by a small majority in the electoral colleges, but disputes 
arose in South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana, which States 
returned two sets of contesting electors. These three southern 



-r 





MEETING OF THK UMUN AND CE.M'KAL PACll'lC KAlLKUADs 

States were still under the control of the carpet-bag government; 
and one of the returning boards, composed of those appointed to 
canvass the votes, threw out Democratic majorities on the ground 
that negroes had been intimidated in the elections, and there- 
fore gave certificates of election to the Republican electors. 

This dispute presented a grave problem, and there was great 
excitement throughout the country. Congress appointed a com- 
mission to which each disputed case should be referred, this 
commission being composed of five members from the House, 



SIDELIGHTS xVND SUGGESTIONS 337 

five from the Senate, and five Justices of the Supreme Court. 
Eight of the commission finally selected were Republicans in 
politics and seven of them Democrats, who by a strict party vote 
of eight to seven declared, March 2, 1877, that Hayes and Wheeler 
had been elected.'' 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Serious panics which widely affected the business and finance of the 
country occurred in 1867 under President Johnson and again in 1873 under 
President Grant. The crisis in the latter panic occurred on a Friday, and the 
term "Black Friday" has been applied to it. The same term has also been 
applied to a more sudden crash which shook the financial centres on Friday. 
September 25, 1869. 

2. There were, during these times of business depression and consequent 
suffering, national leaders who achieved victories in peace and statesmanship 
as notable as those won by the great generals in the war for the. Union. Among 
these leaders should be mentioned Hugh W. McCulloch of Indiana, and David 
A. Wells, who performed a great service in reorganizing the finances of the 
Federal government and in reducing the enormous debt incurred by the war. 
Hamilton Fish, of New York, secretary of state under Grant, most ably con- 
ducted the affairs of that department during a very critical period filled with 
foreign complications. 

3. The first of the Ku Klux Klan societies (see Sec. 241) was organized 
in Pulaski, Tennessee, in 1866. At first the members met merely for purposes 
of amusement, but they soon discovered that their very secrecy of organiza- 
tion could be used as a power over the vicious but ignorant elements in con- 
trol of the State government. This led, in the following year, to an extension 

^ Tilden received 184 undisputed votes, Hayes 165. There were 19 dis- 
puted votes of the States under reconstruction government : Florida, Louis- 
iana, and South Carolina. The electoral commission awarded all these to 
Hayes, and one disputed electoral vote from Oregon, making the electoral 
vote 185 to 184 in favor of Hayes. 

It is unfortunate that all questions referred to the commission should in 
every case have been decided by a party vote of eight to seven. It had been 
the intention of Congress to provide for seven Republicans and seven Demo- 
crats, and the fifteenth member of the commission was to have been Justice 
David Davis of Illinois, who was an independent in politics. In the meantime, 
however, Justice Davis was elected a Senator from Illinois, and an additional 
Republican was chosen in his place from the Supreme Court. 



33S ADMINISTRATIONS OF ULYSSES S. GRANT 

of the scope of the order, from which year dates its poUtical significance. 
Later, General N. B. Forrest was chosen as the national leader ot these secret 
societies. The Klan was patriotic in its purposes and ideas, and its members 
were sworn to support the Constitution of the United States. After the 
formal disbandment of the Klan in 1869, irresponsible persons imitated its 
disguises and committed acts which were not justifiable. Other outrages were 
perpetrated by "carpet-baggers" and "scalawags" in similar disguise, which, 
for some time, were attributed to the Ku Klux Klan. 

4. It has well been asked if the political institutions of any other nation 
in the world could have withstood the shock of the disputed elections of 1876. 
Both Tilden and Hayes and many of the leaders of either party deserve great 
credit for their attitude toward the result. Tilden accepted the decision in 
good faith and his opponent showed moderation in victory. Americans have 
greater cause for jjride in such cases than in the records of generals and armies. 

5. A great tide of European immigration began to set in during the sixties. 
From 1861 to 1879, a year marking the culmination of a period of prosperity, 
the immigration had increased from 112,000 to 789,000. 

6. The great expansion of the northwest and the marvelous growth of 
the wheat crop should prove an interesting subject for special investigation. 
The grain growing area of the United States in 1867 was nearly doubled bj^ 
1879, and the output grew in equal ratio. At the latter date it amounted to 
considerably over 2,000,000,000 bushels. During the war between Prussia 
and Austria in 1866-1867 and between France and Germany in 1870-1871, 
wheat sold at prices ranging from $2.00 to $2.85 a bushel. What is the price 
of wheat to-day? 

7. Another interesting subject for investigation should be the further 
driving back of the Indians, the growth of the transcontinental railroads, and 
the extinction of the enormous herds of buffalo that had for ages roamed at 
will over the vast western plains. 



• CHAPTER XXXV 

Leading Events from 1877 to the War with Spain 

247. End of Reconstruction. — The administration of President 
Hayes marks the end of Reconstruction. The people of the north- 
ern States had become informed with respect to the conditions 
in the South, and enUghtened pubUc opinion was heartily in 
accord with the President when he determined wholly to with- 
draw the Federal military forces from the South and to allow the 
people to set up such State governments as they wished; it was 
many years, however, before the southern States recovered from 
the burden of the enormous expense imposed upon them by the 
corruption and extravagance of the reconstruction regime.^ 

248. Conflicts between Capital and Labor. — In the summ.er of 
1877 Pittsburg became the centre of a great labor disturbance, 
involving the employes of leading railroad lines and the coal 
miners of Pennsylvania, in the course of which there were ex- 
tensive riots. Property to the value of several million dollars 
was destroyed, and President Hayes dispatched United States 
troops to the scene of the trouble. These disturbances were 
largely due to conditions arising out of the War of Secession. 
During the war, manufacturers had been greatly stimulated by 
the need of the government for munitions and supplies of war, 

^ Upon the removal of the military forces, the remaining reconstruction 
governments immediately collapsed. Responsible State governments con- 
trolled by native whites replaced them. These set themselves to the task of . 
maintaining as good governments as possible in the face of an ignorant and 
sometimes overwhelming negro vote, controlled in large measure by the vicious 
influences that directed the previous era of misrule. Until some years later, 
when the southern States passed restrictive legislation, the whites made use 
of many devices to minimize or even illegally to throw out part of the negro 
vote. 

339 



340 EVENTS FROM 1877 TO WAR WITH SPAIN 

and by increased tariff duties. Subsequently, great corporations 

were formed, with millions of dollars of capital and with many 

thousands of employes. Under this development, the relations 

between employers and employed had become very much changed. 

Personal knowledge of and contact between them necessarily 

became less frequent or ceased altogether, and the employes felt 

obliged to protect their interests by labor organizations formed to 

offset the powerful corporations built up by capital. The seventh 

-~^ decade (1860-1870) of the nineteenth century 

^N^ seems to have been most typical of the ills 

\ attending unlimited or '' cutthroat" compe- 

^%. \ tition; while the eighth decade (1870-1880) 

^^- is said to illustrate most forcibly the evils of 

* the unregulated growth of monopoly." Out 

^^^^A^ / ^^ these conditions arose great railroad com- 

\^|^||HhH^B' binations, combinations of industrial enter- 

^PIHH^r prise known as trusts, great banking systems, 

^"^^^^^^ and labor unions. Regulation by the Federal 

RUTH E UFO Hu B. HAYES govcmment followed. At first the measures 

October i^fS'^^akdk- intended to control the giant combinations 

1842^ studied °iaw Sd^bl- wcre not euforccd, but during the adminis- 

S^1T8-'jf(?l^^iTve'd trations of Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson the 

L^orrtrn''g\rran£ ofbrigl laws passed at the cud of the ninth decade 

mllSr cttlslr^^s65 = were shown to have real force in them. 

Ohio: ilcl'':nd\l7eZTd: 249. Financial Legislation under Hayes.- 

eSiol^^^t o """^pl-eskiln^y I^ 1878 Gougrcss passcd a measure kno^vn as 

illlZTaf'Tot^Iifsttn, the Bland-Allison act. As passed Biand-Aiii- 

acUve\fter'?Jtikng'?rm by the House, it provided for un- Ict^llW"' 

i^rm inf 'in'^'ed'^JcrdonS limited coiuage of silver dollars at a fixed 

work. Died 1893. ^.^^-^ ^-^j^ ^^j^ (^^^^^ jg ^^ ^^^ j^ ^^^ 

intended to give the country two kinds of coin of equal value, 
gold and silver. In the Senate, the bill was modified to provide 
for the purchase by the government of not less than $2,000,000 
nor more than $4,000,000 worth of bullion, each month, and to 

2 More accurately, each period extended into the decade following. 



fl 



PRESIDENT GARFIELD SHOT BY ASSASSIN 341 

coin the same into silver dollars. Agitation in favor of the free 
and unlimited coinage of silver was kept up for many years, com- 
ing strongly to the front in the presidential campaign of 1896. 

When it was seen that the Federal government could readily 
redeem its notes and bonds, it was enabled to pay off a great deal 
of its war debt of nearly $3,000,000,000 by means of Refunding 
refunding. That is, the government was now able to borrow 
money by issuing bonds bearing lower rates of interest. With 
the money thus acquired it could pay back a large amount of 
the principal of the war debt, which it had borrowed at a 
very high rate of interest. The government thus saved many 
millions of dollars a year and made rapid progress in the matter 
of paj^ments. 

250. Presidential Elections of 1880. — As the time for the 
elections of 1880 approached, a division of the Republican 
party calling themselves ''Stalwarts" made another effort to 
nominate General Grant for a third term. This movement 
was inspired partly by opposition to the candidacy of James G. 
Blaine. Neither Blaine nor Grant was nominated, however, and 
the choice of the party fell upon General James A. Garfield, 
who, like Grant and Hayes, had won distinction in the Fed- 
eral army during the War of Secession. The Republican 
nominee for Vice-President was Chester A. Arthur of New York. 
The Democrats nominated General Winfield S. Hancock of 
Pennsylvania, and WlUiam H. English of Indiana. The election 
was closely contested, but Garfield was successful by small 
majorities in sufficient States to give him a preponderance of the 
electoral votes. ^ 

251. President Garfield Shot by an Assassin, 1881.— The 
change of administration at Washington encouraged a great 
number of men to seek positions under the new President; but 
President Garfield, by his recognition of the Blaine faction in the 
Republican party, incurred the displeasure of the opposition 

3 The Greenback-labor party and the Prohibition party also nominated 
candidates at this election. 



342 



EVENTS FROM 1877 TO WAR WITH SPAIN 



element, which felt entitled to the spoils of political success. 
Chester A. Garfield was accordingly made the object of much 
^ome^'presl- fisrcc denunciation, in the midst of which a disappointed 
^""""^ and weak-minded office seeker shot the President on 

July 2, 1881. The assassin's shot did not prove immediately 
fatal, but Garfield died from its effects on the 19th of Septem- 

^ ^ , ber following, whereupon Chester A. Arthur 

\ took the oath of office as President. 

252. Civil Service Reform. — While the 
country was horrified at this deed, public 
' spirited citizens seized the opportunity to 
impress the nation with the need of civil ser- 
/ vice reform. Accordingly a National Civil 
Service Reform League was organized, which 
chose George William Curtis for Progress of 
its president. As a result of this '^" '^^""'"^ 
agitation, an act was passed by Congress in 
1883, which was the first really efficient law 
aiming to establish a system of appointments 
to government positions by merit instead of 
by partisan preference. This reform move- 




JAMES A. GARFIELD 



Born Orange, Ohio, No- 
vember 19, 1831. Largely 
self-educated; became 
teacher while studying 
law; member Ohio State 
senate, 1859; served in 
west during War of Seces- 
sion, rising by exceptional 



ge^nerai ?8 6 3?^reTigS mcnt had uumcrous revcrscs and partial de- 

from service to take seat 
in House of Representa- 
tives; re-elected to Congress 
regularly, where he op- 
posed Reconstruction poli- 
cies of Andrew Johnson, 
and was otherwise promi- 
nent as leader in shaping 
legislation, including ad- 
vocacy of the resumption 
of specie pavments; elected 
President, 1880; shot by 
assassin July 2, 1881, and 
died September 19 follow- 
ing. 



feats in the course of its progress, but in the 
end it always seemed to gain more than it 
lost in each succeeding administration. Under 
Cleveland considerable progress was made, 
although extraordinary pressure was brought 
to bear upon him because of the advent to 
power of the Democratic party after a long 
period of political subordination. There was 
an apparent retrogression when the Republicans triumphed 
under Harrison. The latter suspended certain civil service 
orders of his predecessor in the post-office department; but this 
supsension was more than offset by the activities of Theodore 
Roosevelt, whom Harrison appointed as a member of the Civil 



OTHER EVENTS OF ARTHUR'S ADMINISTRATION 343 

Service Commission. Roosevelt's energetic action, first as a 
member and later as chairman of the Commission, combined 
with his political shrewdness, greatly increased the power and 
prestige of that body. 

253. Other Events of Arthur's Administration. — During the 
administration of President Arthur, Congress passed an act to 
abolish the practice of polygamy by the Mormons Anti-poiyg- 
in Utah. In 1890 the Mormon church officially for- tion 
bade polygamy, and Utah was admitted to the Union in 1896.^ 

Congress also established zones of standard time throughout 
the United States, under which the country was divided into four 
sections of fifteen degrees of longitude each. Before the standard 
adoption of this uniform regulation of time zones, inter- ^^™^ ^°°^^ 
state railroads had been having the greatest difficulty with their 
schedules throughout the entire breadth of the continent.^ 

In 1883 an effort was made by the tariff reformers in both 
parties to reduce the rates then in effect. When the tariff bill 
was finally enacted, however, it w^as claimed that the rates were 
increased rather than lowered. In 1884 a period of Tariff of 

. 1 8 8 3 and 

severe financial depression set in. This depression panic of i884 
reached a climax in May and June, 1884, when a number of the 
great business houses failed. Within a few months forty-one 
railroad corporations passed into the hands of receivers. The 
price of wheat fell to a very low level, and there was great dis- 
tress in the grain growing sections, particularly in the upper 
tier of southern States and throughout the west. 

^ The Mormon sect was first established under Joseph Smith at Nauvoo, 
Illinois, in 1840. In 1844, Smith was killed and in 1846 his followers were 
driven from the State. Later, under the leadership of Brigham Young, they 
founded Salt Lake City. 

^ Shortly after the War of Secession, work was begun on the first trans- 
continental railway. One division, under the name of the Union Pacific, 
began to build westward from Omaha, and the other, the Central Pacific, 
eastward from Sacramento. The Federal government gave each company 
more than $25,000,000, besides grants of land along their routes. The two 
roads or parts met at Ogden, Utah, in 1869. 



344 EVENTS FROM 1877 TO WAR WITH SPAIN 

In 1884 an exposition was held in New Orleans to celebrate 
the centennial of the shipment of the first few bags of cotton from 
World's In- Charleston to England. The exposition was called 
polition ^a^t the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial, and the 
New Orleans r^-j^^^^tion of the country was drawn to the steady 
growth of industry in the South. Instead of the six to eight 
bags of cotton first exported, the South had produced in that year 
eight million bales of cotton alone, besides 
other staple crops. The Exposition showed 
also that the South had become less distinctly 
agricultural, and was engaging more in manu- 
facturing and allied industries. 

254. Presidential Elections of 1884.— The 
closely contested elections of 1876 and 1880 
were followed by another in 1884 in which the 
Republican candidates were James G. Blaine 
of Maine and John A. Logan of Illinois, and 
CHESTER A. ARTHUH thc Dcmocratlc candidates were Grover Cleve- 
Oc?ober 5! Yssa ^ 'xeacher l^ud of Ncw York and Thomas A. Hendricks 
in N:w°?4v£rserved'on of Indiana. Cleveland and Hendricks were 
during^war oPIecessfjii; elcctcd, but the clcction was so closely con- 
??rof"ptt%^Ne"w Yo?£ tested that their popular plurality was but 

1871; elected Vice-Presi- qq nno 6 
dent with Garfield, 1880; ^o,UUU. 

sefvi?e"Srnf"buf aSrd 255. Important Legislation during Cleve= 

vation'' to" presidency 'at land's Fifst Term.-Shortly after Cleveland 

bef i9°i8sT^to'^endTf''his bccamc President, Congress passed Presidential 

term in 1885. Died 1886. ^ ^^jjj making better or more ex- — -- 

tended provision for the succession to the Presidency. Up to 

" A number of Republicans who had declared in favor of civil service and 
other reforms were warmly opposed to the nomination of Blaine. Among 
them were Andrew D. White, George F. Hoar, Henry Cabot Lodge, and 
Theodore Roosevelt. These, however, afterwards supported the nominee of 
the party. Republicans who did not support Blaine were called " Mugwumps." 
For a time the term ''Mugwumps" was applied as a term of derision to all 
who did not strictly adhere to the party with which they were usually 
associated. 




FOREIGN RELATIONS IN THE PACIFIC 345 

that time, the succession was planned to pass from the Vice-Presi- 
dent to the President pro tempore of the Senate, or to the Speaker 
of the House of Representatives. Provision was now made for 
the succession to pass from the Vice-President to the Secretary of 
State, and, after him, through the other members of the cabinet 
in the order of precedence and of the successive crea- Disputed 
tion of their departments. Another act, passed in 1887, ^'^^^i^^^^ 
left to the courts of each State, as far as possible, the decision of 
all contests over disputed electoral votes. 
This was done in order to avoid a repetition 
of the dangerous situation involved in the 
Hayes-Tilden controversy in 1876. 

In 1887 Congress passed an act for the 
regulation of interstate commerce, creating 
Interstate for that purposc an Interstate Com- 

Commerce 

Commission mcrce Commissiou, to which it 
granted extensive powers to prevent discrimi- 
nation in trade and transportation. In the 
same year. Congress repealed the Tenure of B^om caidweiiT n." j. 
Office Act passed twenty years before for the clerical" pol'tion^s^^in New 
purpose of hampering President Johnson. S^-Ssl^'st'Sie^d^^ii^w 

256. Foreign Relations in the Pacific- ^Sf 'dist'ric^luor'n^rtf 
The Samoan Islands, although nearer to Aus- i^i: %^ fi''/#of eTeftel 
tralia than to North America, had attracted lp[ll Gov?rn^of °of New 
The Samoan a uumbcr of immigrants from the JeS', ill!'; St'ld^'by 
^""^'^ United States, besides many from S'prlsi^deif fnlfe'tav; 

Germany and Great Britain. Although the unheisi\'y'"'Died"prT^^^^^^^ 
islands offered themselves to the United States *"°' ^^°^- 
in 1877, this country was not prepared at that time for any such 
radical steps as acquiring distant territory. Consequently, the 
islanders made treaties with Germany, Great Britain, and the 
United States. 

The treaty with Germany granted that nation special conces- 
sions, and this fact led to closer relations between the United 
States and Great Britain. During Cleveland's term of office 




GROVER CLEVELAND 



346 EVENTS FROM 1S77 TO WAR WITH SPAIN 

German warships openly supported a native claimant to the 
throne, but the United States consul proclaimed a protec- 
torate under the treaty of 1878, and he was supported by the 
British. Diplomatic negotiations were entered into by the 
three great powers concerned, during the progress of which 
the German consul openly took part in overthrowing the 
native ruler in favor of the rival claimant. Subsequently, the 
German warship Adler was directed to shell a village under 
the control of the deposed ruler; but the United States cruiser 
Adams, now made ready for action under Commander Leary, 
deliberately placed itself between the threatened village and 
the Adler, whereuxion the commander of the latter, not being 
prepared to hazard war with the United States, gave up his 
purpose. 

The German consul now proclaimed martial law, and, early 
in 1889, conditions in the islands took on a critical aspect, with 
the warships of the three nations in daily readiness for belligerent 
action. A possible clash was, howevt^r, averted on March 16 by 
a disaster that assailed all alike. On that day a hurricane dis- 
persed the warlike armament, destroying the German and Ameri- 
can ships, although the single British vessel Calliope succeeded 
in saving itself by steaming out to sea. The international nego- 
tiations, once suspended, were renewed, and the three nations 
agreed to a joint protectorate. In 1900 this protectorate 
gave way, in turn, to another agreement by the terms of which 
Great Britain withdrew from the islands, the United States 
acquired Tutuila and Manua, with the excellent harbor of 
Pago Pago, while Germany secured the remaining islands of the 
group. 

257. Presidential Elections of 1888. — In the presidential 
campaign of 1888 the Democrats renominated Cleveland, with 
Allen G. Thurman of Ohio as their candidate for Vice-Presi- 
dent. The Republicans nominated Benjamin Harrison of Indiana 
and Levi P. Morton of New York. In this campaign the Demo- 
crats declared for a tariff for revenue only, while the Repub- 






il 




BENJAMIN HARRISON 



ADMISSION OF NEW STATES 347 

licans declared for a continuation of high protective duties. 
Harrison and Morton were elected, receiving 233 votes in the 
electoral colleges to 168 for Cleveland and 
Thurman. The result was remarkable, how- 
ever, in that the defeated candidate received 
a popular plurality of nearly 100,000 over his 
opponent. 

258. Admission of New States; Western 
Development. — During the ensuing adminis- 
tration the number of States in the Union 
was increased by the admission, in 1889, of 
Washington, Montana, and North and South 
Dakota, while Idaho and Wyoming were ad- Born North"Brnd?o'hio, 

TYii++Ar1 in 1800 7 August 20, 1833. Gradu- 

mittea m ISyU. ate of Miami University; 

Abrief review of the addition of new States ^pjfil^f Ind^tlerved^n'^wrr 
does not present an adequate conception of the SlfeeTs^^areSy ""ai^i ^62- 
growth in population, industries, and wealth a['d"sf of^diT'uSd 
throughout the area embraced in the new Ir^sSen^l'J.hef ^stftfs! 
States and in the west generally, especially in t^oS'nlfgl'Dild^rdiana: 
the Rocky Mountain region. This growth re- p^'^"' '^^^'"^ ^^' ^^^^• 
ceived its early stimulus through hunting, herding, and the dis- 
covery of valuable minerals, while development was greatly hastened 
by the building of the great transcontinental railroad systems. 

The history of western mining on a large scale begins with the 
discovery of gold in California in 1849, already described briefly 
in Sec. 180. Ten years later, high up the side of a The mining 
mountain, great deposits of silver were found, the ^"^"^^''^ 
difficulties in mining which led to the earliest great achievements 
of the mining engineers of the west. Virginia city was founded 

^ It will be remembered that California became a State in 1850. Oregon 
was admitted into the Union in 1859. Wyoming was the first State to allow 
women to vote. Colorado in 1893 was the second State to adopt unlimited 
woman suffrage. Since then the movement for woman suffrage has spread 
extensively over the west, and, in some limited form, at least, in other States 
in every section of the Union. In 1913 the territory of Alaska granted woman 
suffrage, with a unique provision exempting women from jury duty. 



348 EVENTS FROM 1877 TO WAR WITH SPAIN 

and the settlers in this region secured a territorial form of govern- 
ment in 1861, which later developed into the State of Nevada 
(1864). At about the same time, gold was discovered on the 
east side of the Rocky Mountains. Lead, also, was discovered 
in large quantities. Denver and Leadville were founded, the 
territory of Colorado was created in 1861 and admitted into the 
Union in 1876. Minerals were found in the neighboring States 
and the discoveries attracted miners, prospectors, and herdsmen 
from every section. 

In all this development and expansion, it should be borne in 
mind that no government has been so liberal in its terms of set- 
Controi of tlcmcut and development as that of the United States; 

natural re- . . i r- t 

sources mmcs wcrc given to those who nrst discovered or 

claimed them and no part of the yield was reserved by the gov- 
ernment. Later, however, when natural resources began to be 
monopolized by great corporations, a movement was started to 
regulate exploitation and to safeguard the interests of the people. 
259. Federal Legislation under Harrison. — One of the 
earliest acts under Harrison's administration was the passage of 
McKiniey ^ high protcctive tariff under the leadership of Con- 
ffhermTn grcssmau William McKiniey, after whom the bill was 
silver law named. At this time the sentiment for the free coin- 
age of silver was so strong in both great parties that the silver 
advocates in the Republican party threatened to defeat the tariff 
measures. Finally, however, a compromise was reached which 
provided for an increase in the Federal purchase of silver bullion. 
The support of the silver men was further encouraged by a clause 
in the bill which seemed to favor free coinage but which was subject 
to two interpretations. Subsequently, this clause was interpreted 
by Carlisle, Secretary of the Treasury under Cleveland, as declaring 
against free coinage or bimetalism and in favor of the goldstandard.^ 

^ See Sec. 263 for tariff legislation under Cleveland; Sec. 280 for the Payne- 
Aldrich bill passed during the administration of Taft; and Sec. 282 for the 
Underwood bill passed in 1913. Also see Sec. 268 for further silver agitation 
under the leadership of Bryan. 



ADMISSION OF NEW STATES 349 

Because of the popular demand for Federal regulation of 
monopolies or trusts, which had already risen to great power 
through superior management under combination and by the 
ruthless crushing out of all small competitors, both Sherman 

^ ^ ' anti-trust 

parties united in Congress in passing the Sherman law 
Anti-Trust law in 1890. This law made illegal all contracts to 
create monopolies in restraint of competition. To enter into such 
contracts was made a misdemeanor punishable by fine or im~ 
prisonment. Both Republicans and Democrats claimed credit 
for this legislation; but even the most astute party leaders did 
not believe that it would be enforced, and the heads of great 
corporations continued to conduct their affairs in much the same 
way as before and new trusts were created. Regulation under 
the law was not seriously undertaken until the administrations 
of Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson. 

In 1890 Congress passed an additional pension act, for the 
benefit of all Union soldiers who had served ninety days in the 
War of Secession, and who w^ere unable to do manual pension 
labor. It provided also for the widows and children ^^^^^'^^^^^ 
or the dependent relatives of such soldiers. The act increased the 
pa5niients of pensions to over $300,000 a day. The outlay for 
pensions had, under various acts of Congress, risen from $29,- 
000,000 a year in 1875 to $159,000,000 in 1893.^ 

It was during Harrison's administration that the speakership 
in the House of Representatives rose, under Thomas B. The rule of 
Reed, to a position of exceptional powder through the ^^^'" ^^"^^ 
adoption of new and stringent rules intended to expedite the 
legislation of the party majority in the house. From that time 
the influence of the Speaker grew alarmingly. During Taft's 
administration it reached a climax under Joseph G. Cannon. In 
1910, however, a combination of Democrats and 'insurgent" or 
progressive Republicans deprived the office of much of its power 
through taking away the appointment and control of Congres- 

9 In 1912, under the provisions of the Sherwood Act, the amount arose to 
an annual outlay of $180,000,000. 



350 



EVENTS FROM 1877 TO WAR WITH SPAIN 



sional committees and in other ways limiting the prerogatives 
of the Speaker. 

260. Foreign Relations under Harrison. — While the United 
States and Great Britain were working together in the negotia- 



1 




Courtesy Commercial Museum, Philadelphia 

SALMON FISHING IN ALASKA 



tions relative to the control of the Samoan Islands (Sec. 258), 
Bering Sea difficulties arosc between the two countries with refer- 
controversy ^^^^ ^^ ^^le scal fishiug in Bering Sea. In this matter 
Secretary Blaine insisted that the Bering Sea was, for seal 



FOREIGN RELATIONS UNDER HARRISON 



351 



catching, ''closed" to the ships of other nations, and the United 
States had already seized British ships fishing there. When 
Great Britain demanded reparation the two nations were directly 
at odds. Fortunately the dispute was, in 1892, submitted to an 
arbitration tribunal at Paris, which, on most of the points in 
controversy, decided in favor of Great Britain and the other 
nations concerned. 




PICTURE ILLUSTRATIXG THE USE OF THE STEAM PLOW, NOW BEIXG REPLACED BY "MOTOR 
plows" or plows EQUIPPED WITH INTERNAL COMBUSTION TRACTORS 

An Italian secret society, loiown as the Mafia, had terrorized 
the city of New Orleans by numerous crimes. In 1890, the chief 
of police, who had been very active in prosecuting the Mafia out- 

. . ^. . . rages in New 

society, was assassinated. Nine Italians were tried Orleans 
for complicity in the murder; six were acquitted, and the jury 
disagreed in the cases of the others. The people of New Orleans 
were convinced that some of the jurors had been intimidated 
or bribed. Accordingly a crowd of citizens forced an entrance 
to the jail, and put the accused Italians to death. As some of the 
men thus killed were citizens of Italy, the government of that 
country demanded reparation. The United States consented to pay 
an indemnity to the families of the Italian citizens slain by the 
mob, and trouble between the two governments was averted. 
On October 16, 1892, two United States sailors were killed 



352 EA'ENTS FROM 1877 TO WAR WITH SPAIN 

and nineteen injured by a hostile mob of Chileans in Valparaiso. 
Friction had for some time existed between a victorious revolu- 
Friction with tlouary f actiou in Chile and the United States minis- 
^^^^^ ter and minor officials. The revolutionists claimed, with 

considerable show of justice, that the minister had improperly 
given aid and protection to the defeated faction. Subsequently the 
new Chilean government w^as slow in expressing any official regret 
for the attack upon the United States sailors, but Secretary Blaine 
insisted upon reparation with the result that in 1893 Chile paid an 
indemnity of $75,000 for the victims of the riot and apologized for 
her attitude in the matter. The United States minister, who had 
been at least indiscreet, was recalled by President Cleveland. 

261. Presidential Elections of 1892. — In 1890 an organization 
known as the National Farmers' Alliance had attained consider- 
Formationof ^blc strcugth, aud lu 1891 and 1892 the Alliance united 
or^ PopSiist with the labor unions and formed what was called the 
party Pcoplc's or the Populist party. It advocated public 
owTiership of railroads, telegraph systems, and telephone lines; 
declared for government loans on land and produce; and advo- 
cated special laws for the protection of labor. It also advocated 
the unlimited coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1, postal sav- 
ings banks, and an income tax. This party nominated, as its 
candidate for President, James B. Weaver of Iowa. The Repub- 
licans renominated Benjamin Harrison, wdth Whitelaw Reid of 
New York as their candidate for Vice-President. The Democrats 
again nominated Grover Cleveland, with Adlai E. Stevenson for 
Vice-President. Although the new People's Party showed re- 
markable strength, the contest was really between the Republi- 
cans and the Democrats, the latter making tariff reform the chief 
issue. Cleveland and Stevenson were elected, the Democratic 
candidates receiving a majority in the electoral college and a plu- 
rality of the popular vote over their opponents. 

262. Financial and Business Depression of 1893. — Early in 
1893 the Federal government, conducting the Treasury under 
the provisions of the Sherman Silver Act, felt keenly a decided 



TARIFF LEGISLATION 



353 



depreciation in the value of silver. Gold was, therefore, kept 
back or exported in large quantities. On several occasions the 
gold reserve had reached so low a point that the Treasury was 
compelled to resort to all kinds of devices to maintain a balance in 
order to keep the countr}^ on a gold basis with the other great 
nations of the world. Congress, called together in special session, 
repealed the Sherman Silver Act, but financial distress continued 
and there were serious failures in business throughout the country. 
263. Tariff Legislation, 1894. — At the regular session of Con- 
gress, the Democratic majority in the House, under the leader- 
ship of William L. Wilson, prepared a bill for tariff reduction, in 
accordance with the campaign pledge of the party. In the Senate, 




COTTON-GINNING IN TEXAS: SHOWING, FROM LEFT TO BIGHT, SEED STORAGE-HOUSE; GIN 
house; POWER-HOUSE, AND WAGONS UNLOADING AT SEED STORAGE-HOUSE 

however, a few Democrats voted with the Republicans to increase 
the rates on a number of articles. In its final form Cleveland 
denounced the bill and it became a law without his signature. ^° 

At the time the W^ilson bill was being passed in the House, 
that body attempted to provide against an anticipated decrease 
in revenue by raising the internal revenue tax on Income tax 
liquors and by the passage of a tax on incomes in excess of $4,000; 
but th6 latter tax was declared unconstitutional by the United 
States Supreme Court. See Sec. 280. 

^^ The leader of these high tariff Democrats was Gorman of Maryland, 
so that the bill was afterwards known as the Wilson-Gorman bill. 



354 



EVENTS FROM 1877 TO WAR AVITH SPAIN 



264. Foreign Affairs during Cleveland's Second Term. — From ll 
early in the nineteenth century, when Great Britain secured a 
part of Guiana from Holland, the boundary line between that 
province and Venezuela had been in dispute. This dispute 




THE UNION PACIFIC CROSSING SALT LAKE; A CUT-OFF TWENTY-SEVEN MILES IN LENGTH 

reached a critical stage during Cleveland's second term subse- 
The Vene- Queut to an ultimatum from Great Britain that she 

zuela boun- 
dary dispute would definitely occupy a large part of the territory 

claimed by Venezuela, The latter country appealed to the United 



FOREIGN AFFAIRS 



355 



States for protection and arbitration of the difficulty. Upon 
receiving tliis appeal, President Cleveland offered the friendly 
services of the United States to secure the arbitration asked for 
by Venezuela. This proposition, however, the British govern- 
ment refused to consider. Cleveland now took the position that 
the Monroe doctrine eml traced the mediation of the United States 
to protect anv American country from aggression on Extension of 

, ^ -r^ ^ T 1 • 1 1- 1 <h^ Monroe 

the part of European powers. In this case he did not doctrine 
assume that wrong had been done to Venezuela but that the 
United States government was justified in demanding inves- 




WEAVINU TREE CLOTH, USED IN CONTKOLLING THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER FLOODS 

tigation through arbitration. To the assertion of Great Britain 
that the Monroe doctrine did not cover the point at issue, Cleve- 
land replied in a special message to Congress in December, 1895, 
in which he declared that it was '^ incumbent upon the United 
States" to determine the true boundary line between Venezuela 
and British Guiana. The message also clearly indicated that the 
finding thus established by the United States must be upheld. 

Without a dissenting vote, a special commission suggested by 
the President was created by act of Congress, while the message 
aroused both countries to the seriousness of the situation. A 



356 EVENTS FROM 1877 TO WAR WITH SPAIN 

general desire among the people for a speedy and amicable 
settlement became immediately evident. Negotiations were 
Victory for continued and Great Britain agreed to submit the points 

international , . . 

arbitration at issuc to an mtcmational tribunal of arbitration, 
which announced its decision in 1899. In the main this deci- 
sion upheld the contentions of Great Britain. ^^ 

265. Domestic Affairs under Cleveland. — Besides those al- 
ready mentioned, there were several serious labor disturbances 
or strikes during the period under discussion in this chapter. For 
the greater part, these had a local significance, but a strike in 
Chicago in 1894 among railroad employes brought up a national 
issue. The general depression in business had affected the rail- 
roads, and the Pullman car works at Chicago cut wages. A strike 
was declared by the American Railway Union and when the rail- 
roads attempted to employ other men, rioting followed and rail- 
road trains were impeded or altogether blocked. When the 
governor of Illinois refused to order out the State Militia, President 
Cleveland sent Federal troops to the scene to secure the safety of 
the United States mail and for the protection of interstate commerce. 
Cleveland's action in thus asserting Federal authority in what many 
maintained was the affair of an individual State was a notable illus- 
tration of the growth of the powers of the Federal government.^^ 

1^ At an earlier stage in the negotiations (1876) Venezuela had asked for 
aid from the United States; President Grant, however, took no action other 
than indicating to the British government that the United States was inter- 
ested in an equitable settlement of the dispute. The Venezuelan boundary 
dispute is of especial historical and political importance in that it not only 
brought the Monroe doctrine again into prominence ((?/. Mexico and French 
aggression under Maximilian, Sec. 239), but it manifestly extended its appli- 
cation. Cleveland took an advanced position, and his decision in the matter 
paved the way for the success of United States policies and diplomacy in the 
subsequent foreign complications arising under succeeding administrations, 

1- This strike is not to be confounded with the Chicago strike of 1886. 
At that time a number of anarchists openly advocated violence. At one of 
the meetings of the strikers, a bomb was thrown among the police, who were 
attempting to disperse the assemblage. In the explosion that followed, several 
policemen were killed outright and a large number injured. Some of the leading 
anarchists were arrested, seven were convicted, and four of these were hanged. 



i 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 357 

266. Presidential Elections of 1896. — In the Presidential 
campaign of 1896 the Democrats nominated William Jennings 
Bryan of Nebraska and Arthur Sewell of Maine. The Republi- 
cans nominated William McKinley of Ohio and Garret A. Hobart 
of New Jersey. The Democrats advocated the free and unlimited 
coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1. This was opposed by the 
Repubhcans unless the other great nations would agree to adopt 
the same policy. On this issue both parties split. The Republi- 
can silver advocates organized the '' National Silver Party" and 
endorsed Bryan and Sewell. The gold Democrats met in con- 
vention and nominated John M. Palmer of Illinois and Simon B. 
Buckner of Kentucky. The People's Party endorsed Bryan, 
but nominated for Vice-President Thomas E. Watson of Georgia. 
After an unusually excitmg campaign, McKinley and Hobart 
were successful, getting 271 electoral votes to 176 for Bryan and 
Sewell. 

SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. A great many points mentioned in this chapter may be brought up for 
fuller discussion. Especially is this the case with State issues in matters de- 
cided by the action of individual States. One of these is the question of woman 
suffrage. (See p. 347.) 

2. Other points of both local importance and of national or international 
interest are the World's Fairs or Expositions. Two or three of those bearing 
especially upon certain phases of national development have been mentioned. 
The greatest of all of these expositions up to the War with Spain was the 
World's Columbian Exposition held at Chicago in 1893, to commemorate the 
four-hundreth anniversary of the discovery of the New World. This exposi- 
tion followed the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876, and preceded 
the World's Fair at St. Louis in 1904, held to commemorate the purchase of 
the Louisiana territory. 

3. Inventions and improvements had kept up with the gro^i:h of the 
country. Space in this volume cannot be given to these. Such works of engi- 
neering as the deepening of the mouths of the Mississippi River by James B. 
Eads (1879) suggest at once the modern problem of the control of floods in 
the entire Mississippi valley. During this time great strides were being made 
in the perfection of the telephone, and in the use of natural gas. 



CHAPTER XXXVI 




From the Beginning of the War with Spain to the 
Present Time 

267. The War with Spain.— From 1895 to 1898 Spain had been 
trying to suppress a rebellion in Cuba. In the latter part of that 
period especially, the Spanish officials had conducted the campaign 
against the Cuban people with extreme harsh- 
ness. Conditions had become so Spanish 

. cruelties in 

bad that the United States govern- Cuba 
ment interested itself in endeavoring, by 
offers of mediation, to stop the war. The 
United States objected particularly to the 
policies of the Spanish commander in Cuba, 
General Weyler, who had concentrated over 
200,000 men, women, and children in camps 
guarded by soldiers, where great numbers of 
those thus confoied died from insufficient 
food and shelter, or of disease, from the 
spread of which they were not adequately 
protected. Moreover, the prevalence of 
disease, chiefly yellow fever, was affecting 
or was likely to affect American seaports. 
Commerce between the United States and 
Cuba was seriously disturbed, and the Span- 
ish policies were threatening ruin to important 
American interests in the island. 
While negotiations between Washington and Madrid were 
in progress, the American battleship Maine was blown The i^iaine 
up in the harbor of Havana on the 15th of February, Hava''na"hai'^ 
1898, by what seemed to be an explosion of a subma- ^°^ 
rine mine. More than 250 lives were lost, and this event served to 
358 



WILLIAM MCKINLET 

Born Niles, O., Jan. 29, 
1843. Educated in Ohio 
and at Allegheny College; 
taught in public schools; 
entered Union army as pri- 
vate in 1861; for meritor- 
ious conduct received pro- 
motions; brevet-major at 
close of war; served almost 
continuouslv in Congress 
from 1877 to 1891; framed 
in 1890 McKinley Tariff 
Bill; governor of Ohio, 
1892-1896; President of 
United States, 1897-1901; 
shot bv assassin, Sept. 5, 
1901. Died Buffalo, N. Y., 
Sept. 1-4, 1901. 



THE WAR WITH SPAIN 



359 



aggravate the feeling in the United States against Spain and to 
make it increasingly difficult to hold in check the sentiment for 
armed intervention in Cuba. After further fruitless negotiations 
between the two nations, the United States, on April 20, 1898, 
delivered an ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of Spain from 
Cuba and the acknowledgment of the latter's independence. 
This Spain refused to do and both countries prepared for war. 

In response to President McKinley's first call for volunteers, 
125,000 men were enrolled, and this number was later increased to 
200,000. The regular army was augmented from 28,000 War declared 
to 60,000 men. In every section of the country those volunteering 




THE U. S. BATTl^KSHIP 



ENTEKING HAVAMA HAHBOK 



for enlistment far exceeded the number required. Union and Con- 
federate veterans again responded to the call of war; but this time 
they enlisted to fight shoulder to shoulder against a common foe. 
On May 1, Commodore Dew^y, who was in command of the 
Pacific fleet at Hong Kong when war was declared, boldly entered 
Manila harbor in the Philippines and there attacked b a 1 1 1 e o f 

. . . . Manila Bay. 

the eastern fleet of Spain. The fire of the Americans May i. i898 
was terrific, and, in a few hours, every Spanish ship had been 
sunk or burned without serious injury to any of the American 
vessels. The Americans had only seven men wounded, while the 
Spanish loss in killed and wounded was nearly four hundred. 



360 FROM SPANISH WAR TO PRESENT TIME 

Another Spanish fleet under Admiral Cervera had sailed west- 
ward from the Cape Verde Islands and had entered the harbor of 
Engage- Santiago, Cuba. Here Cervera was shortly afterwards 
jifaTan^d^Ei blockadcd by an American fleet under Rear-Admiral 
Caney ^y rp g^mpsou, and in June an army of 16,000 men 

under Major-General Shafter set out from Tampa to Santiago 
to cooperate with Sampson.^ Land engagements were the first 
to take place. In these the Americans were successful, notably 
in the fighting at San Juan and El Caney on July 1. 

Since at this time General Shafter was ill, much of the final 
success of these two engagements was due to the energy and 
experience of Major-Generals Joseph Wheeler and Henry W. 
Lawton, to the steady courage of the regular infantry, and the 
determined charge of the volunteer cavalry, a large part of whom 
were known as the ''Rough Riders" under Colonel Leonard Wood 
and Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. Lawton's losses 
at El Caney were about 400 in killed and wounded, while Wheeler's 
command at San Juan also suffered heavily.^ In spite of the 
successful attacks upon San Juan and El Caney, the American 
forces were in a critical position, owing to the unaccustomed 
tropical heat, heavy rains, and insufficient supplies. Shafter 

^ A young American officer, Lieutenant R. P. Hobson, volunteered to 
"bottle up" the Spanish fleet by sinking a vessel at the entrance of Santiago 
harbor. Hobson, with a few picked men, conducted the collier Merrimac 
into the harbor before dawn on June 3, and, in the midst of a heavy fire from 
the Spanish batteries, scuttled the ship in the channel. After sinking the 
Merrimac, Hobson and his men clung to a raft until daybreak, when they 
were taken off by a Spanish launch. Before the Merrimac was in the desired 
position for sinking, the steering gear of the vessel was shot away. The vessel 
became unmanageable, and Hobson did not succeed in blocking the channel 
as intended. It is worthy of note that upon their capture Cervera sent word 
to Sampson that Hobson and liis men were safe. 

2 Lawi,on had served in the Union army during the War of Secession, 
where he rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He saw fiu-ther service in 
campaigns against the Indians in the west. Wheeler, known as "fighting 
Joe," had during the War of Secession risen to liigh rank under the Con- 
federacy. 



THE WAR WITH SPAIN 361 

counselled withdrawal; but at this juncture the navy won a no- 
table victory, which raised the spirits of the land forces and in 
equal degree disheartened the enemy. 

On July 3, during the absence of Admiral Sampson and while 
the blockading fleet was under the command of Commodore W. 
S. Schley, the Spanish fleet attempted to escape be- Defeat of the 
fore the anticipated fall of the city of Santiago. July 3 
Admiral Cervera hoped to catch the American fleet unprepared, 
but the latter pursued the Spanish warships promptly, all the 
while pouring into them a destructive fire until the last one was 
beached 45 miles west of Santiago harbor.^ The Spanish cas- 
ualties in this engagement were 540 in killed and wounded. On 
the American side one man was killed and one wounded, both of 
whom were on the flagship Brooklyn. 

Subsequently, on July 17, Santiago surrendered to the Ameri- 
can army. The terms of surrender included that city and much 
of eastern Cuba, with an agreement on the part of the victors to 
transport to Spain the 22,000 Spanish troops included in the 
articles of capitulation. 

Another American army under General Miles, after a brief 
campaign from July 25 to August 12, took possession of Porto 
Rico. On the latter date hostilities were suspended Peace de- 
and peace commissioners from the United States and ^^^""^^ 
Spain prepared to negotiate a treaty. This treaty was signed on 
December 10, by the terms of which Spain relinquished The united 
her claim to Cuba and ceded to the United States the Sf ^^Phmp! 
island of Porto Rico, the island of Guam, and the Phil- ^^^^ ^'^^°^' 
ippine Islands. For the last named islands the United States 
agreed to pay to Spain $20,000,000.4 

3 This last remaining vessel representing Spanish power in the West was, 
strangely enough, named the Cristobal Colon, after the great discoverer who, 
four hundred years before, had first planted the flag of Spain upon the coast 
of Cuba. 

* In the meantime, the city of Manila had been bombarded by Admiral 
Dewey and General Mcrritt, and had surrendered to the Americans on 
August 13. 



362 FROM SPANISH WAR TO PRESENT TIME 

By this treaty Spanish rule in the western hemisphere, begun 
in 1492, was ended. The United States continued to control 
The Republic Cuba Under a military achninistration, with General 

of Cuba pro- 

claimed Leonard Wood as governor, until the Cubans had 

drawn up a constitution which satisfied conditions imposed by 
Congress. On the 20th of May, 1902, the United States withdrew 
from the island, and the Republic of Cuba was duly proclaimed.^ 
268. Diplomatic and Political Problems arising out of the 
Spanish War. — The purchase by the United States of the Philip- 
pine Islands brought with it problems of an entirely new nature. 
In the first place, the natives, who, under the leadership of Emilio 
Aguinaldo, had been fighting against the Spanish, transferred 
their hostility to the United States. In the second place, the 
problem arose whether, subsequent to anticipated American suc- 
cess in subduing resistance, the islands should be treated (1) 
as territories with the privileges of American citizenship accorded 
to the natives; or (2) as colonies or possessions to which, for in- 
stance, the Fifteenth Amendment and the guarantees of the 
Constitution did not apply. A special commission was appointed 
and sent to the Philippines to investigate conditions. This com- 
mission reported in favor of the latter alternative, and the United 
States government was started upon a policy of maintaining 
colonial possessions.® 

s The first president of Cuba was Thomas Estrada Palma. He was re- 
elected in 1906, but his opponents disputed his election and flew to arms. 
Consequently, President Roosevelt felt justified in intervening to restore order. 
United States troops were landed on the island, and Roosevelt appointed 
Secretary of War William H. Taft as military governor. He was succeeded 
later by Governor Magoon, who administered affairs in Cuba until 1909, 
when it was believed that order was sufficiently restored for the Cubans to 
reassume control of their own affairs. 

^ Organized resistance to American authority in the Philippines was 
crushed out early in 1900, not, however, without heavy expense to the govern- 
ment and serious loss of life to the American troops in battle and from tropical 
diseases. Aguinaldo was captured in March, 1901. Congress conferred power 
upon the President to organize civil government in the Philippines, and 
William H. Taft became the first governor of the island. Governor Taft 



UNITED STATES DIPLOMACY 363 

269. Further Acquisitions of Territory in the Pacific. — Several 
times during the closing years of the nineteenth century, a body 
of Americans in the Hawaiian Islands had endeavored to secure 
the annexation of that archipelago to the United States, Hawaii an- 
but had not succeeded. When, however, the United °^''^'^' ^^^^ 
States government began offensive operations against Spain in the 
Philippines, the Hawaiian Islands at once assumed a greater im- 
portance, and a resolution providing for annexation was passed 
by Congress making Hawaii '^part of the territory of the United 
States." 

270. Diplomacy of the United States in the Orient; the Boxer 
Rebellion in China, 1900. — In 1899, John Hay, then Secretary of 
State, made formal protest to the governments of Great Britain, 
Germany, and Russia against what appeared to be the first steps 
looking toward the division and ultimate control of China by 
these powers. He also advocated an "open door" policy respect- 
ing trade wath that country. Great Britain alone returned a 
favorable reply. 

In the meantime the Chinese people were being aroused by 
the threatened loss of their independence. An organization or 
secret society in Ch'na pledged itself to drive out or kill all foreign- 
ers. Nominally it was an athletic society and its members became 
known in Enghsh as the '"Boxers." The Chinese government 
was unable or unwilling to put down an uprising against foreigners 
which broke out with sudden fury in 1900. The German minister 
was killed in the streets of Peking, and the foreign element in the 
capital, including the ministers of the various powers, barricaded 
themselves at the British embassy until those surviving the 
Boxer attacks were rescued by the sn'iriy of the allied powers. 

endeavored to prepare the Filipinos for self-government by a gradual process 
of extending the suffrage to the more intelligent natives. This plan was not 
unlike that of President Lincoln for the partial enfranchisement of negroes 
after the War of Secession. After the United -States had acquired the Philij:- 
pines, a dispute arose between Spanish friars and the natives over the owner- 
ship of land. It was finally ended when the government agreed to pay the 
friars $7,000,000 for their claims. 



364 



FROM SPANISH WAR TO PRESENT TIME 



Secretary Hay now played a still more important part in the 
negotiations with China. Great Britain, Germany, France, and 
Russia were prepared not only to ask for a large indemnity, but 
to seize territory as well. Hay, however, was successful in getting; 
the agreement of Great Britain and Germany to favor the ''open 
door" policy for international trade, not to ask for territory, 
and to oppose such a demand from Russia and France. An in- 
demnity of $333,000,000 was demanded by the allied powers, 

$24,000,000 of which was the 
allotted share of the United 
States. This latter amount 
largely exceeded the actual 
losses incurred by the United 
States in the war, whereupon 
the United States government 
established a noteworthy prec- 
edent in modern diplomacy by 
returning to China the surplus, 
or $13,000,000. 

271. Chinese Immigration 
Problems. — For some time 
after gold was discovered in 
California, Chinese laborers 
were welcomed in the Pacific 
States. After 1869, however, 
there was an influx of white 
laborers. The latter strongly 
objected to the Chinese, who were able and willing to work 
longer for less wages. In California particularly, fierce race riots 
ensued, and the State legislature passed a number of laws dis- 
criminating against the Chinese, some of which were declared 
unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court. In 1882 
Congress passed an act prohibiting for ten years the further 
immigration of Chinese laborers. This act was renewed in 1892 
and again, for an indefinite period, in 1902. 




STATUE OF LIBERTY AT ENTRANCE 
YORK HARBOR 



4 



THE PANAMA CANAL 



365 



272. Presidential Elections of 1900. — In the presidential cam- 
paign of 1900, the Democrats again nominated WilHam Jennings 
Bryan, with Adlai E. Stevenson, of IlUnois, for Vice-President. 
The RepubUcans again chose Wilham McKinley as their candi- 
date, with Theodore Roosevelt, of New York, for Vice-President. 
The Democrats opposed the holding of colonial possessions, and 
declared that this was the paramount issue of the campaign. A 
number of those who had been prominent supporters of the Re- 
publican party also declared that they were opposed to colonial 




Courtesy Commercial Museum, Philadelphia 



A WRIGHT AEROPLANE 



expansion. These ''anti-imj^erialists" supported Bryan and 
Stevenson. On the other hand, many Democrats upheld the new 
policies and voted for McKinley and Roosevelt. 

273. Death of McKinley and Beginning of the Administration 
of Roosevelt. — President McKinley had served but a few months 
of his second term when, on the occasion of a visit to the Pan- 
American Exposition at Buffalo, September 6, 1901, he was 
struck do^vn by the bullet of an anarchist. The wound proved 
fatal, and, on September 14, the President died. Theodore Roose- 
velt at once took the oath of office as President, and pledged 
himself to carry out the policies of his predecessor. 

274. The Panama Canal. — The first term of President Roose- 
velt is notable for the energy with which the United States govern- 
ment took up plans for constructing a canal from the Atlantic to 



366 



FROM SPANISH WAR TO PRESENT TIME 



acitic. Two routes were considered. One was through the 
Isthmus of Panama along the hues of abandoned French excava- 
tions begun in 1881 by the same man (de Lesseps) who, in 1869, 
had successfully completed the great Suez Canal. The other 
route proposed was through Nicaragua. This was longer, but 
considerable bodies of inland water could be 
utilized for navigation. 

The Panama route was finally chosen. 
The Clayton-Bulwer treaty with Great Britain 
(1850) was abrogated, and the HayPaunce- 
fote treaty, containing more li}:)eral 
provisions for the United States as 
the builder of the canal, was sub- 
stituted for it (1901). Secretary 
Hay forthwith set about negotiating a treaty 
with Colombia, the terms of which were to 
include a ninety-nine years' lease of a strip of 
land six miles wide, with the right of renewal 
by the United States, and the payment to 
Colombia of $10,000,000 in cash, with an 




Colombia re- 
jects pro- 
posal of 
United States 
for Panama 
Canal 



Copyright, 1906, by Clinedinst 
THEODOKE ROOSEVELT 

Born New York, Oct. 27, 
1858. Was graduated Har- 
vard, 1880; member New 
York legislature, 1882-1884 ; 
appointed to Civil Service 
Commission 1889-95; pres- 

poircecJmmis°ionerI,i895- anuual rental of $250,000, beginning nine 

1897; assistant secretary of 
navy, 1897; resigned to 

tntUl^i'LTTouToT/d the Colombian Senate.^ 

colonel, 1898; governor of 
New York, 1899-1900; Vice- 
President with William 
McKinley,_ 1901, succeed- 
ing to Presidency on death 
of latter, Sept. 14, 1901; 
elected President, 1904 ; be- 
came nominee of Progres- 
sive Party in 1912. 



years later. The proposal was rejected by 



In Panama, dissatisfaction with the de- 
cision of the Colombian Senate manifested 
itself at once, and this disaffection the United 
States government was accused of fostering. 
An insurrection followed in November, 1903. 
The Colombian government hurried troops to Colon, but United 
States marines prevented their transportation to the scene of 
trouble by way of the Panama railroad on the ground that the 
transportation proposed would interfere with free transit across 

^ The United States also agreed to pay to the stockholders of the old 
French Canal Company and its American underwriters S40,000,000 for the 
right to utilize what had been done under their direction. 



LABOR TROUBLES 



367 



the isthmus of Panama, as guaranteed by the treaty between the 
United States and Colombia. The Colombian troops returned home 
and the insurrectionists proclaimed the repubhc of Treaty with 
Panama, which the government of the United States ^^^^°'^ 
promptly recognized and prepared to protect from attack by its 
parent country. Before the end of Novem- 
ber a treaty was arranged wdth Panama on 
the basis of the one rejected by Colombia, 
with the difference that the United States 
acquired sovereign rights over a strip of 
land 10 miles in width, and guaranteed the 
integrity of the new republic. Construc- 
tion of the canal was energetically begun 
in 1904. Later, this great work was given 
over to the management of Colonels G. W. 
Goethals and W. C. Gorgas. The former 
directed the engineering and general man- 
agement of the enterprise, w^hile the latter 
instituted a splendid system of sanitation, 
by which a formerly unhealthful region was 
made a place of safety for the thousands of 
men engaged in the undertaking. 

275. Labor Troubles. — President Roose- 
velt's first administration was marked by 
several large strikes, which caused con- 
siderable distress throughout the east. 
The first was the strike of the ant hr? cite 
coal miners in Pennsylvania, begun in May, 
1902, and lasting for several months. The 
price of coal rose steadily, and, with winter 
approaching, became so scarce in the large 
cities that relief committees were organized. In October President 
Roosevelt secured the consent of operators and miners to submit 
their differences to a board of arbitration. Other strikes occurred 
among the employes of the meat packers in Chicago and among 




> C. R. Gray 
PANA-MA CAXAL ZONE 



36S FROM SPANISH WAR TO PRESENT TIME 

the mill workers in Massachusetts, a settlement of the latter 
dispute being brought about by Governor Douglas of that State. 

276. Election of President Roosevelt, 1904.— In 1904 the 
Republicans nominated President Roosevelt and Charles W. 
Fairbanks of Indiana. The Democrats nominated Alton B. 
Parker of New York and Henry G. Davis of West Virginia. Roose- 
velt and Fairbanks were elected by overwhelming majorities both 
in the popular vote and in the electoral colleges. In the latter 
the vote stood 336 to 140 in favor of the Republican nominees. 

277. Roosevelt's Policies. — President Roosevelt's administra- 
tion was marked by extensive investigations into the conduct of 
great financial and business corporations. Much corruption and 
fraud was shown to exist and steps were taken to eradicate the evil. 
Govern- Powcrf ul aggregations of capital had contributed heavily 

mental in- • c i r> i i t • i 

vestigations to the Campaign funds of both great political parties. 
In some States it was showTi that the free use of money had de- 
bauched the electorate, so that extensive reforms were instituted 
in both State and Federal j)plitics. It was also disclosed that rail- 
road corporations had been giving special rates to favored shippers, 
and, in other cases, had been arbitrary and exorbitant in trans- 
portation charges. Congress, therefore, passed the Hepburn bill, 
intended better to regulate the railroads through increasing the 
membership and powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission. 
During the greater part of Roosevelt's term of office the Presi- 
dent and Congress were at odds over a number of the measures 
urged by the Executive. For this reason, many of the President's 
policies were not at once adopted. They were, however, aggres- 
sively brought to the attention of the public by the President, who 
received a remarkable degree of popular support. One of the most 
important of the policies brought forward by the President was that 
Conservation of the conservation of natural resources. He empha- 

o f n a t u r a 1 . . i r • • n 

resources sizcd the growiug need for such conservation m forest, 
stream, and mine. Although the response of Congress was not a 
hearty one at first, his ideas were partially put into practice through 
government appointees who labored with this end in view. 



^1 



PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS OF 1908 3G9 

278. Foreign Relations under Roosevelt. — For some time 
affairs in Santo Domingo had been going from BaH to worse. 
The government of that repubhc was deeply in debt to several 
European nations and was in a bankrupt condition. The nations 
affected were considering a forced pajrtnent by direct interfer- 
ence. Roosevelt took the view that interference with Roosevelt on 

. . the Monroe 

an Am.erican country under such circumstances did doctrine 
not violate the principle of the Monroe doctrine, provided no 
seizure of territory was contemplated; but he believed also 
that such interference might, from time to time, present serious 
complications prejudicial to the interests of the. United States. 
He declared that if such complications were likely, the United 
States should see to it that no American country gave cause for 
interference. He proposed, therefore, that the United States 
should take charge of the revenues of Santo Domingo and super- 
intend the settlement of the obligations of that republic. This 
plan was agreeable to both Santo Domingo and the creditor 
countries, but the United States Senate refused to endorse it. 
Roosevelt, however, proceeded, by semi-official processes, to carry 
out the arrangement mthout the consent of the Senate, and the 
latter subsequently adopted his plans in a modified form.^ 

279. Presidential Elections of 1908. — Although the preceding 
Republican administration had been called upon to weather two 

^ " President Roosevelt's policy undoubtedly warded off serious difficulty in 
the case of Santo Domingo, but the ultimate effects of that policy are not yet 
evident; for, if it be taken as a precedent that the United States will in every 
case assume responsibility for the payment of the debts of American states, 
the bankers of Europe will find it profitable to buy up all doubtful claims 
against American states and urge their governments to press for payment. 
Our navy would thus be converted into a debt- collecting agency for the powers 
of Europe, and the only escape from such a predicament would be the estab- 
lishment of a protectorate over the weaker Latin-American states, and the 
imposition upon them of a provision like the 'Platt Amendment,' by which 
Cuba has bound herself not to contract any foreign debt without the consent 
of the United States, the payment of which cannot be provided for by the 
ordinary revenues of the island!" — John Holladay Latane, in "America as a 
World Power." 



370 FROM SPANISH WAR TO PRESENT TIME 

periods of financial and business depression in 1903 and again in 
1907, it never went into a political combat with better prospects 
of success.^ This was due largely to President Roosevelt's personal 
popularity and the wide endorsement of his policies. When, 
therefore, the Republican convention nominated William H. Taft 
of Ohio, approved by Roosevelt, the latter's followers gave the 
nominee their hearty support. For Vice-President the Repub- 
licans nominated James S. Sherman of New York. The Demo- 
crats, advocating a policy of tariff reform and trust regulation, 
for the third time nominated William Jennings Bryan, with John 




A MODERN BATTLESHIP OP THE TTNITED STATES NAVY 

This vessel is planned to excel the displacement of the Oregon, of Spanish war fame, by 
20,000 tons. The Oregon carried four 13-inch guns in its main battery; this ship supports a 
battery of twelve 14-inch guns, of sufficicint force and weight of metal to sink a squadron of 
Oregons. At the time of the laying of the keel of this super-dreadnaught, the plans called 
for the greatest battleship aBoat or that was in process of construction by anj^ nation. At 
the Brooklyn Navy Yard she is known as No. 39. 

W. Kern of Indiana as their candidate for Vice-President. The 
confidence of the Republicans was justified in the result of the 
elections, and Taft and Sherman received 321 electoral votes to 
162 for Bryan and Kern.^° 

^ " Having recovered from a collapse previous to the war with Spain, 
inflation and capitalization on a gigantic scale set in and did not run their 
course until a debacle in 1907." — Charles A. Beard, "Contemporary Ameri- 
can History." 

^"Although more decisively defeated, with regard to the electoral vote, 
in 1908 than in 1900, Bryan received in 1908 over a million and a quarter more 
votes than Parker in 1904. Bryan was the leader of the radical or progressive 
wing of the Democratic party, and was thus opposed to Parker, the leader of 
the conservative element. Eugene V. Debs was the candidate of the Socialist 
party and received over 400,000 votes. 




DOMESTIC POLICIES 371 

280. Domestic Policies of President Taft and Federal Enact= 
ments during his Administration. — Although the RepubUcan 
part}^ was a strong advocate of a protective tariff, there had, 
Tariff re- in the party itself, been so much outcry against the 
^^"^''^ tariff of 1897 that the Republican platform promised 

a revision of the very high rates established at that time by 
a measure known as the Dingley bill. Upon his inauguration in 
1909, therefore, President Taft called a spe- 
cial session of Congress to take up this ques- 
tion. Subsequently, Congress revised the 
tariff, but in such a way as to cause consid- 
erable weight to be attached to the state- 
ment of the opposition that the rates were 
revised in the interest of those profiting by 
high protection rather than in the interest 
of the consumer. At any rate, a strong 
revulsion of sentiment set in against the ^ . ^ x. ^,. ,. 

'-' Copyright by Chnedinst 

Republicans, leading, two years after their william h. taft 
overwhelming victory in 1908, to the loss sept^Ts ?857°"was S- 
of the House of Representatives to the g^^'p'iior ^Court^^?^ ^ cll- 

Demoornts ^^ cinnati, 1887-1890; U. S. 

solicitor-general 1890-1892; 

During the debate on the tariff, Presi- J"^^e u s. circuit court, 

" ' 1892-1900; governor Phil- 

dent Taft sent a special message to Congress ippines, i9oi-i904; sec- 

<^ <^ retary oi war in Roose- 

urging the passage of a constitutional amend- ^eU's cabinet, 1904 ;pro- 

visional governor of Cuba. 

ment empowering Congress to levy a general i^o^; elected President of 

^ . '^ *= J' & United States, 1908; de- 

mcome tax on individuals. He also C^^ted for re-eiection in 

Income tax 1912; lecturer at Yale Uni- 

proposed a tax upon the earnings varsity, 1913. 
of corporations with incomes in excess of $5000. The proposed 
amendment passed both houses by the requisite majorities, was 
later ratified by three-fourths of the States and was proclaimed 
in force early in February, 1913, thus becoming the Sixteenth 
Amendment to the Federal Constitution. 

" President Taft recommended a reciprocity agreement with Canada, 
which was approved by the United States Senate. The people of Canada, 
however, rejected the proposal when it was put to a vote in that country. 



372 FROM SPANISH WAR TO PRESENT TIME 

The President strongly emphasized the advisability of ex- 
tending the jurisdiction of the international courts of arbitration, 
Arbitration such as that already established at the Hague. His 
pTs^ed^ bj recommendations on these points were coldly received 
^^^^ in the Senate; and, in the case of proposed treaties 

with Great Britain and France, were so amended in that body 
as to cause the treaties to be abandoned. 

For many years there had been a strong popular demand for 
the election of United States Senators directly by the votes of 
p o p u I a r the States rather than by the legislatures. This move- 
Uni ted States ment was steadily blocked in the Senate itself, but dur- 
senators -^^^ ^^^ administration of President Taft the friends 
of direct elections succeeded in securing (May 13, 1912) the neces- 
sary two-thirds majority to pass a constitutional amendment 
providing for such elections. This was submitted to the States, 
the necessary three-fourths of which approved it, and the Seven- 
teenth Amendment was proclaimed May 31, 1913. 

President Taft recommended also and secured the passage of 
a law providing for the establishment of a postal savings bank 
Postal sav- systcm in connection with the United States Post 
ings banks q^^q^ xWs system' provided for the payment of two 
per cent, interest on money deposited at the post offices designated. 
Under the new plan, millions of dollars, chiefly in small amounts, 
were in a very short time deposited through the medium of the 
postal service. 

Supported by President Taft, Congressman David J. Lewis 
brought to a successful issue a long-continued fight for the in- 
Parceis post auguratiou of a parcels post system. A bill to this effect 
system passcd both houses of Congress in 1912 and the system 

was put into operation January 1, 1913. At first the size and 
weight of packages accepted were much limited, but, in the suc- 
ceeding administration, the Postmaster-General authorized very 
material extensions in the service. 

281. Presidential Elections of 1912. — During the latter part 
of President Taft's term, considerable dissatisfaction with the 



PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS OF 1912 



373 



course of the Administration was felt within the ranks of the 
Republican party. In Congress, the leaders of the revolt within 
the party were called ''insurgents," but later, under ex-Pres- 




Copyrighted, 1911, by Mimn & Co., Inc. Courtesy " Scientific American 

bird's-eye view of PANAMA CANAL LOCKS 

ident Roosevelt, they took the name of ''Progressives." ^^ i^ 

^2 The pioneer "insurgent," Senator La Follette, of Michigan, had begun 
a revolt against the older leaders during the administration of Roosevelt. 



374 FROM SPANISH WAR TO PRESENT TIME 

the Republican convention at Chicago in 1912 a great contest 
for the control of the party arose between the Progressives and 
the Taft adherents. Roosevelt and the Progressives were de- 
feated, and Taft and Sherman were again nominated, although a 
large number of the Progressive delegates withdrew from the 
convention. Some of those thus bolting, and others from the 
different States, met in Chicago in August and nominated ex-Presi- 
dent Roosevelt and Hiram S. Johnson of California. 

In the meantime the Democrats held their convention at 
Baltimore, and, after a series of stormy sessions, nominated 
Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey and Thomas R. Marshall of 
Indiana. The Democrats pledged themselves to reduce mate- 
rially the tariff duties. The Republicans were inclined to defend 
the measure they had passed during the Taft administration, and 
to appeal to the more conservative sentiment of the country. 
The Progressive party advocated many social reforms, and em- 
phasized the conservation by the Federal government of national 
resources, but said comparatively little about the tariff question. 
A vigorous campaign Avas conducted by the candidates, which 
resulted in the election of Woodrow Wilson by an overwhelming 
vote in the electoral colleges, although, like Lincoln in 1861, he 
did not receive a majority of the popular vote over the other 
candidates. Four hundred and thirty-five electoral votes were 
cast for Wilson and Marshall, eighty-one for Roosevelt and 
Johnson, and fifteen for Taft and Butler. ^^ 

282. Administration of Woodrow Wilson. — Upon his in- 
auguration in 1913, President W^ilson called a special session of 
Congress to fulfill the tariff reform pledges of the Democratic 
platform. On this subject he delivered his message in person, 
becoming thereby the first president since John Adams to address 
Congress in this manner. 

As in the case of nearly all tariff legislation since the days 
of Madison and Monroe, there was protracted debate over the 

1' Nicholas Murray Butler, of New York. Butler's name was substituted 
for that of Sherman, who died before the electoral vote was cast. 




ADMINISTRATION OF WOODROW WILSON 375 

proposed changes. Much pressure from within their own party 
was brought to bear upon the Democratic leaders to secure exemp- 
tion from the general reduction of certain specified arti- Tariff reform 
cles, such as sugar; but the President especially, as the respon- 
sible head of his party, stood firm, and, after a debate of several 
months' duration, an act was passed that marked the most material 
reductions made in the tariff rates for over half a century. 

Upon the passage of the tariff act, known as the Underwood- 
Simmons Bill, President Wilson urged the pro- 
longation of the special session in order to take 
Currency re- up the problcm of reforming the 
form Federal currency system. It was 

generally admitted that this department of 
the government needed reorganization, and 
that a system adapted to the war times of the 
middle of the previous century was not suited 
to modern requirements. Statesmen and po- 
litical economists, however, differed greatly woodbow wilson 
as to the methods of reform, although practi- -^^J"^^^ ilse"" w"as Jld- 
cally all agreed in desiring a more elastic uated Princeton, 1879; 

'^ ^ o pursued studies in law and 

currency which would lessen the danger of political science at the 

*^ ° University of v irginia and 

the recurrence of financial panics. After ^^ ^^^'^^ Hopkins Uni- 

^ versity; practised law, 

protracted debate, Congress passed the Atlanta, Ga.,i8S2-i883,en- 

■^ 7 o J- gaged in educational work 

Glass-Owen Currency Bill, which provided ?f^ became president of 

"^ ' ^ Princeton Lnn^ersity, 1902; 

for a number of ''regional reserve banks," elected Governor of New 

'^ ' Jersey, 1910, and President 

under Federal direction. of United states, 1912. 

Early in his administration. President Wilson took a decided 
stand in opposition to what has been called ''dollar diplomacy," 
or the principle by which, briefly stated, the United Opposition 
States government is supposed to "protect " or guaran- diplomacy" 
tee by armed intervention, if need be, the investments of Ameri- 
cans in foreign countries. Consequently, the President sum- 
marily set aside the possibility of governmental support to United 
States bankers in the allied-powers loaii to China, which was 
under consideration at this time. 




376 



FROM SPANISH WAR TO PRESENT TIME 



On somewhat the same principle the President refused to inter- 
fere in the internal broils of INIexico, although the interests of 
citizens of the United States were suffering from the disorders 
there. On account of these disorders, the President warned all 
Attitude such citizcus against imperiling their lives by remain- 
Mexico ing in Mexico during the time of civil conflict. He 
further refused to recognize General Huerta as provisional presi- 
dent. The latter had violently overthro^\Tl President Madero, 






f^^^~ 




rfflffipifi 



1 



^msMj-am. 



THE CAPITOL,, WASHINGTON, D. C. 

who was brutally murdered, apparently by Huerta's orders. 
President Wilson based his refusal to recognize Huerta on the 
ground that Huerta had usurped the government by this irreg- 
ular and bloody act, and that he had not been properly elected 
according to the constitution and laws of Mexico. 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 

1. Lack of space proliibits a discussion of many matters mdirectly con- 
cerning the United States or directly concerning the various States in the 
Union. Among the former may be mentioned Roosevelt's initiative in offer- 
ing the friendly offices of the United States in ending the war between Russia 



< 

i 



SIDELIGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS 377 

and Japan. Among the matters pertaining to internal affairs may be men- 
tioned the admission in 1907 of the State of Oklahoma and its remarkable 
growth, and of the States of Arizona and New Mexico. 

2. No mention has been made of the great fires at Chicago in 1871, the 
most destructive of modern times, and that in Boston in the following year; 
Charleston suffered from earthquake in 1886; Baltimore was visited by a 
severe conflagration in 1904; and in 1906 a large part of San Francisco was 
left in ruins by both earthquake and fire; from time to time, also, floods have 
almost swept away cities in the great Mississippi \'alley, but in each instance 
the indomitable American spirit has risen above the disaster and built better 
than before. In many cases the catastrophe itself brought political reform 
in its wake, and improved methods of popular government were established 
in the midst of the ruins. 

3. The discovery of rich gold deposits in Alaska in 1897 caused a rush of 
immigration into that country. It was also found that Alaska had enormous 
deposits of coal. Immediately corporations were formed to get control of 
this valuable property; but, with a view to securing 
legislation likely to safeguard the interests and future 
welfare of the public, the conservationists were 
able to hold up exploitation by these organizations. 
In the meantime, all development was delayed. 
As a solution of the difficulty. President Wilson 
proposed, in a message to Congress, that the 
Federal government should undertake to build rail- 
roads to open up the mineral resources of the last 
great continental territory still under its control. 

4. Not long after the noted American engineer, 
James B. Eads, had deepened the Mississippi River, 

, J , . . -1 xU T ^l. COL. GEORGE W. GOETHALS, 

he proposed to construct a railway across the Isthmus chief engineer of the 
of Tehuantepec (the narrowest part of Mexico) that panama canal 

would transfer ships and their cargoes from ocean to ocean. Imagine an 
ocean-going steamer of to-day being thus transported. In the case of the 
Panama canal, important history is still being made, just as interesting 
details may be learned with regard to its past. 

5. As the engines and instruments of destruction become more terrible, 
the serious contemplation of war is almost enough to prevent any civilized 
nation from engaging in it. Day by day modern civilization becomes more 
complex. There is more to lose by war, just as its agencies proportionately 
gain in their power to destroy property and to snuff out human lives. Peace 
movements are, therefore, becoming stronger; and even if an occasional clash 
of arms apparently sets them aside, it is but for a time only. For the promo- 
tion of the cause of international peace a great palace has already been built 




37cS FROM SPANISH WAR TO PRESENT TIME 

at the Hague in Holland, a country which by its very smallness is considered 
safe from war, and thereby is also saved from the enormous cost in modern 
times of preparing for the possibility of war. 

6. It is remarkable that the declaration of war against Spain should have 
passed Congress on April 19, the anniversary of the first bloodshed in the 
Revolution, as well as of the first bloodshed in the War of Secession. An 
interesting incident of the war with Spain was the remarkable trip of the battle- 
ship Oregon from San Francisco around Cape Horn in order to join Sampson's 
fleet in the West Indies. The declaration on the part of the United States 
government that it would retire from Cuba after setting it free from Spanish 
control was ridiculed in every country of the civilized world. Few believed 
that the United States would live up to its promise. 

7. But the greatest achievement of the United States government in con- 
nection with the liberation of Cuba was brought about, not by sailors or 
soldiers, but by a group of army surgeons, who freed the island from the deadly 
epidemics of yellow fever. This triumph of peace is of inestimable value to 
the whole world, and it was made possible by the discovery that a species of 
mosquito was the carrier of the dreaded disease. Under the direction of Major 
Walter Reed, M.D., and his assistants. Doctors James Carroll, Aristides 
Agramonte, and Jesse W. Lazear, a number of brave men permitted various 
tests to be made upon them. Doctors Lazear and Carroll knowingly permitted 
themselves to be bitten by infected mosquitoes, thus contracting the fever, 
from which Dr. Lazear died. The deaths, a few years later, of Major Reed and 
Dr. Carroll were attributable to the effects of their work and experiments in 
Cuba. Both may be said to have perished in the service, not of their 
country only, but of all humanity. Their names should, therefore, be 
forever enrolled in the splendid company of scientists, statesmen, and patriots 
who have ennobled the pages of United States history. 



APPENDIX A 

The Aborigines of North America 

It is important to remember that when the English began to 
settle on the Atlantic seaboard, Indians had become more or less 
familiar with the appearance of the white men. They did not 
regard the latter as the natives of the West Indies or of South 
America regarded Columbus and the Spaniards. The North 
American Indians were inclined to be hostile to the white invaders 





INDIAN WOMAN WEAVING 



INDIANS BUILDING A CANOE 



from the first settlement at Jamesto^\'n to the settlement of 
Georgia. Tact and fair dealing, however, prevented or postponed 
conflict in several of the Colonies. 

The natives of South and Central America had developed a 
more or less advanced form of civilization; but the Indians of 
North America were either barbarous or savage, although there 
were marked differences between the tribes. The most unde- 
veloped, or savage, Indians lived in the northwestern third of 
North America; while the remainder of the continent was in- 
habited by barbarous tribes. These last were not, as were the 
savage Indians, altogether dependent upon the chase, but had 

379 



380 APPENDIX A 

developed the rudiments of agriculture; and from them the English 
learned the use of maize, or Indian corn; and tobacco.^ 

As will be seen from the map on page , the barbarous 
Indians of the east were in three great divisions or races: the 
Algonquins, afterwards the allies of the French; the Iroquois, fre- 
quently the allies of the English; and the Muskoki in the far south, 
the last of the Indians east of the Mississippi 
to be dispossessed by the white man. 

Each of these stocks or races was divided 

into tribes. These were either more or less 

united, as were the Five Nations of the 

^ Iroquois, or they were almost constantly at 

ll^P / ^^^^ with one another. An examination of 

^J^ -^ .^ ,^pf ll^Q j^r^p ^y[i\ show that many tribal names 

iK J|pr have become familiar to us either in con- 

^ f^ nection with the early settlements, as in the 

JAMES FENiMORE COOPER ^ ^^ Powhataus aud thc Narragan- 

Born Burlington, N. J., ^ 

fn ^New^YoIk^anf Irvale ^^^^^ ' ^^ ^^^^ havc givcu US namcs inseparably 
College; served in u s. councctcd wlth the geography of our country, 

navv, 1808-1811; took up & & i^ ./ J? 

authorship almost by ^s lu the casc of the Ilhuois, the Mohawks, 

chance ant. soon won dis- ' 

tinction as a writer on ^ud OthcrS. 
Indian themes and adven- 
ture; he also wrote narra- Nothiiig definite has bccn ascertained with 

tives of the American '^ 

Revolution and of seafar- regard to the Origin of the North American 

ing life. Died Coopers- '^ *^ 

town, N. Y., 1851. Indians, although there are several sup- 

positions as to their beginnings. It seems certain, however, that 
they were living in America thousands of years before the white 
man came to disturb their sway. 

In appearance there were decided differences between the differ- 
ent tribes; they were generally characterized by a cinnamon color^ 
high cheek bones, and dark eyes and black hair. As a rule, the 
men had no beards, in which respect they were not unlike the 
Chinese. 

The barbarous Indians lived in villages, composed of wigwams 

^ A portion of the southwestern part of the continent was inhabited by 
semi-civilized Indians. 



H 




TERRITORY OF THE PRINCIPAL INDIAX STOCKS 



THE ABORIGINES OF NORTH AMERICA 



381 



or of '' long houses." Some of the latter accommodated twenty to 
fifty families, separated by partitions or stalls. They were accus- 
tomed to the use of fire, which was confined to a great fire pit in 
the centre of the long houses. The smoke escaped through a hole in 
the roof, which as a rule was constructed out of some kind of bark. 




INDIAN BOW AND ARROW 



INDIAN POTTERY 



The chief agricultural implement of the Indian was a hoe made 
of sharpened stone; this was left almost wholly to the women to 
wield, as the warriors considered manual labor degrading. The 
latter, on the hunting trail or the war path, were 
armed with rude stone hatchets or tomahawks, 
with which they brained their foes, or their vic- 
tims, as the case may have been. They also used 
sharp pointed stones as arrow heads. In time 
they learned to use the white man's firearms and 
other weapons. 

The religion of the Indian was very simple. 
He believed in a heaven, which he called the 

Happy Hunting 

Ground, to which 

the spirits of all 

Indians would 

go after death. 

This heaven was 

not unlike the 
earth, but was free from its ills and pain. On earth he scalped his 
foes, with the hope that Indians so treated would not be received 
in the Happy Hunting Ground. On the same principle, he would 
risk his life to preserve the scalp of a slain friend or chief. Gen- 
erally faithful to tribe, friend, or chief, he was terribly cruel to 





INDIAN STONE IMPLEMENTS 



BOW-CA6E 




382 APPENDIX A 

all captives and delighted in torturing them in every way his 
ingenuity could devise. Moreover, it was the custom of those 
subjected to torture to show the utmost indifference to pain, and 
the victims even taunted their captors up to the time that death 
ended their agonies. Indian clans and tribes 
would have ''totems" or emblems sacred to 
some animal, in the name of which religious 
ceremonies would be held. 

The barbarous Indians, as children of the 

'-* ^^^ forest, became the closest observers of nature. 

'^^feMH^^^^' Their perceptions were almost as keen as 

Wy wjjK^^^W those of the lower animals; and, not unlike 

^^KKw many wild animals, they did not thrive in 

^^^^^ ,. settlements or confined quarters. Their love 

Courtesy Appleton's Cyclopedia -^ 

WILLIAM GiLMORE SIMMS of pcrsoual frccdom was as strong as that of 
Born Charleston, s. c, thc whltc man I uullke the African negro, 

April 17, 1806. Educated ,, . ,, i . , 

at Charleston; studied thcreiore, they wcrc never happy m slavery. 

law, but took up writing as tt i Ti- c- i j -j i j^i 

editor, novelist, historian, Under couditious oi mvoluutary scrvitudc the 

and poet; as a writer, . t t • i i 

achieved greatest success AmcHcau Indian perishcd. 

on Indian life and in nar- ,^.,111 x t 

ratives of the American The govcmment of the barbarous Indians 

Revolution. Died 1870. . , „ .,. 1 , 1 i ,• n 1 i i 

was simple, i^ amines related by ties oi blood 
made up a clan, which frequently dwelt in villages. Except for 
weapons, beads, and trinkets, there was little or no private prop- 
erty, provisions and shelter belonging to all in common. A number 
of united clans constituted a tribe. Every clan elected its own chief 
or sachem. A number of such sachems would constitute a tribal 
council, which itself would sometimes have a tribal war-chief." 

2 This chapter may be assigned for reading or study at any point in the 
narrative of the preceding pages. It was not inserted in the body of the book 
because of the desire of the author to eliminate, as far as possible, breaks in 
the continuous story of exploration and settlement. The author suggests 
introducing this chapter or its subject matter in classroom talks from time 
to time, especially in connection with the Indian wars, as these are taken up 
in the history. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776. 



A. Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of 
America, in Congress assembled. 

When, in the course ^f human events, it becomes necessary for one 
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with 
another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate 
and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God 
entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that 
they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created 
equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable 
rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 
That, to secure these rights, governments are nstituted among men, 
deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ; that, 
whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, 
it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a 
new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organ- 
izing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to 
effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that 
governments long established should not be changed for light and 
transient causes ; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown, that 
mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than 
to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accus- 
tomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing 
invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under 
absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off' such 
government, and to provide new guards for their future security. 
Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is 
now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems 
of government. The history of the present king of Great Britain is a 
history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove 
this, let facts be submitted to a candid worhl : 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary 
for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and press- 
ing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent 
should be obtained ; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected 
to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large 
districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of 
representation in the legislature ; a right inestimable to them, and 
formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncom- 
fortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for 
the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with 
manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause 
others to be elected; whereby the legislative })Owers, incapable of 
annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise ; 
the State remaining, in the mean time, exposed to all the dangers of 
invasion from without, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States ; for 
that purpose, obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners ; 
refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising 
the conditions of new appropriations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent 
to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of 
their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms 
of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without 
the consent of our legislature. 

He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior 
to, the civil power. 

He lias combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign 
to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws ; giving his assent 
to their acts of pretended legislation : 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us : 



THE DECLARATION OF IvXDEPENDENCE. 

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any 
murders which they sliould commit on the inhabitants of these States : 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world : 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent : 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury : 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences : 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighborini,' 
province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging 
its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and tit instrument 
for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies : 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, 
and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our governments : 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves in- 
vested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protec- 
tion and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and 
destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries 
to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already 
begun, with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scr^rcely paralleled 
in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civil- 
ized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high 
seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners 
of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeav- 
ored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian 
savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruc- 
tion of all ages, sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress, in 
the most humble terms ; our repeated petitions have been answered 
only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by 
every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free 
people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We 
have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their legislature 
to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded 
them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We 
have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

conjured them, by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these 
usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and 
correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and 
consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which 
denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of man- 
kind, enemies in war, in peace friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in 
general Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the 
world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the 
authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and 
declare, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free 
and independent States ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to 
the British crown, and that all political connection between them and 
the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and 
that, as free and independent States, they have full power to levy war, 
conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all 
other acts and things which independent States may of right do. And, 
for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the pro- 
tection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our 
lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 

John Hancock. 



New Hampshire. — Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew 
Thornton. 

Massachusetts Bay. — Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat 
Paine, Elbridge Gerry. 

Rhode Island. — Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery. 

Connecticut. — Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Wil- 
liams, Oliver Wolcott. 

New York. — William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, 
Lewis Morris. 

New Jersey. — Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hop- 
KiNsoN, John Hart, Abraham Clark. 

Pennsylvania. — Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Frank- 
lin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James 
Wilson, George Ross. 

Delaware. — Cesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean. 

Maryland. — Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles 
Carroll, of Carrollton. 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

Virginia. — George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, 
Renjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter 
Rraxton. 

North Carolina. — William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn. 

South Carolina. — Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Thomas 
Lynch, Arthur Middleton. 

Georgia. — Rutton Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect 
Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the 
common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings 
of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this 
Constitution for the United States of America. 

ARTICLE I. 

Section I. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in 
a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and 
House of Representatives. 

Section II. 1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of 
members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, 
and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite 
for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature. 

2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained 
to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of 
that State in which he shall be chosen. 

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the 
several States which may be included within this LTnion, according to 
their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the 
whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a 
term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other 
persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years 
after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within 
every subsequent term of ten years, in such a manner as they shall by 
law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for 
every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one Repre- 
sentative ; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New 
Hampshire shall be entitled to choose 3 ; Massachusetts, 8 ; Rhode 
Island and Providence Plantations,!; Connecticut, 5 ; New York, 6; 
New Jersey, 4 ; Pennsylvania, 8 ; Delaware, 1 ; Maryland, 6 ; Virginia, 
10 ; North Carolina, 5 ; South Carolina, 5, and Georgia, 3.' 

1 See Article XIV., Amendments. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the 
executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such 
vacancies. 

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other 
officers ; and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 

Section III. 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed 
of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for 
six years ; and each Senator shall have one vote. 

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the 
first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three 
classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at 
the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration 
of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth 
year, so that one-third may be chosen every second year ; and if vacan- 
cies happen by resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the 
Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary 
appointments until the next meeting of the Legislature, which shall 
then fill such vacancies. 

3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the 
age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, 
and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for 
which he shall be chosen. 

4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the 
Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 

5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President 
pro tempore in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall 
exercise the office of President of the United States. 

6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. 
When sitting for that purpose they shall be on oath or affirmation. 
When the President of the United States is tried the Chief Justice shall 
preside ; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of 
two-thirds of the members present. 

7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than 
to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office 
of honor, trust, or profit under the United States ; but the party con- 
victed shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, 
judgment, and punishment, according to law. 

Section IV. 1. The times, places, and manner of holding elections 
for Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by 
the Legislature thereof ; but the Congress n:ay at any time by law make 



THE CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 

or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Sen- 
ators. 

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such 
meeting shall be on the first Monday of December, unless they shall by 
law appoint a different day. 

Section V. 1. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, re- 
turns, and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each 
shall constitute a quorum to do business ; but a smaller number may 
adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attend- 
ance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as 
each House may provide. 

2. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish 
its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two- 
thirds, expel a member. 

3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time 
to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judg- 
ment require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the members of either 
House on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, 
be entered on the journal. 

4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the 
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any 
other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting. 

Section VI. 1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a 
compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out 
of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except 
treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest dur- 
ing their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in 
going to and returning from the same ; and for any speech or debate in 
either House they shall not be questioned in any other place. 

2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he 
was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the 
United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments 
whereof shall have been increased, during such time ; and no person 
holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either 
House during his continuance in office. 

Section VII. 1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the 
House of Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with 
amendments as un other bills. 

2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives 
and the Senate shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Pres- 



m 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ident of the United States ; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not 
he shall return it, with his objections, to that House in which it shall 
have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, 
and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds 
of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together 
with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be 
reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House it shall 
become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall 
be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting 
for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House 
respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within 
ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, 
the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless 
the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it 
shall not be a law, 

3. Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence of the 
Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a 
question of adjournment), shall be presented to the President of the 
United States ; and before the same sh^ll take effect, shall be approved 
by him, or, being disapproved by him, Siiall be repassed by two-thirds 
of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and 
limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 

Section VIII. The Congress shall have power i 

1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the 
debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the 
United States ; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform 
throughout the United States ; 

2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States ; 

3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the sev- 
eral States, and with the Indian tribes ; 

4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws 
on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States ; 

5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, 
and fix the standard of weights and measures ; 

6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities 
and current coin of the United States ; 

7. To establish post-offices and post-roads ; 

8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing 
for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive rights to their 
respective writings and discoveries ; 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court ; 

10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high 
seas, and offences against the law of nations ; 

11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make 
rules concerning captures on land and water ; 

12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to 
that use shall be for a longer term than two years ; 

13. To provide and maintain a navy ; 

14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land 
and naval forces ; 

15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the 
Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions ; 

16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, 
and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service 
of the United States, reserving to the States respectively the appoint- 
ment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according 
to the discipline prescribed by Congress ; 

17. To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever, over 
such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of 
particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of 
the Government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over 
all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in 
which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, 
dock -yards, and other needful buildings ; and 

18. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carry- 
ing into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested 
by this Constitution in the Governm.ent of the United States, or in any 
department or officer thereof. 

Section IX. 1. The migration or importation of such persons as any 
of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be pro- 
hibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred 
and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not 
exceeding ten dollars for each person. 

2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, 
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may 
require it. 

3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in propor- 
tion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken. 

5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

6. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or 
revenue to the ports of one State over those of another ; nor shall ves- 
sels bound to or from one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties 
in another. 

7. No money snail be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence 
of appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account 
of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published 
from time to time. 

8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States ; and no 
person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, without 
the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, 
or title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. 

Section X. 1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or con- 
federation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money;. emit 
bills of credit ; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in 
payment of debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law 
impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility. 

2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any im- 
post or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely 
necessary for executing its inspection laws ; and the net produce of all 
duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be 
for the use of the Treasury of the United States ; and all such laws 
shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress. 

3. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of 
tonnage, keep troops or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any 
agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or 
engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as 
will not admit of delay. 

ARTICLE n. 

Section I. 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of 
the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term 
of four years, and, together with the Vice-President, chosen for the 
same term, be elected as follows : 

2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof 
may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Sena- 
tors and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the 
Congress; but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an 
office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an 
elector. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

3. [The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by 
ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant 
of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a list of all 
the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each, which list 
they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the Gov- 
ernment of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. 
The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and 
House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall 
then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes 
shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole 
number of electors appointed ; and if there be more than one who 
have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the 
House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of 
them for President ; and if no person have a majority, then from the 
five highest on the list the said House shall in like manner choose the 
President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by 
States, the representation from each State having one vote ; a quorum 
for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds 
of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a 
choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the person 
having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice- 
President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal 
votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice-President.] ^ 

4. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, 
and the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall be 
the same throughout the United States. 

5. No person except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the United 
States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible 
to the office of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that 
office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and 
been fourteen years a resident within the United States. 

6. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his 
death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of 
the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President, and the 
Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resigna- 
tion, or inability, both of tlie President and Vice-President, declaring 
what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accord- 
ingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. 

1 This clause is superseded by Article XII., Amendments. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

7. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a 
Lompensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during 
the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not 
receive within that period any other emolument from the United 
States, or any of them. 

8. Before he enter on the execution of his office he shall take the 
following oath or afiirmation : " I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I 
will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and 
will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Con- 
stitution of the United States." 

Section II. 1. The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the 
Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several 
Slates, when called into the actual service of the United States ; he 
may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of 
the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of 
their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves 
and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases 
of impeachment. 

2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present 
concur ; and he shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and con- 
sent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers 
and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the 
United States whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided 
for, and which shall be established by law ; but the Congress may by 
law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper 
in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of depart- 
ments. 

8. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may 
hippen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions 
which shall expire at the end of their next session. 

Section III. He shall from time to time give to the Congress infor- 
mation of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration 
such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on 
extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and, 
in case of disagreement between them with respect to the time of ad- 
journment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper ; 
he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers ; he shall take 
care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the 
officers of the United States. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Section IV. The President, Vice-President, and all civil oftlcers of 
the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, 
and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misde- 
meanors. 

ARTICLE III. 

Section I. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested 
in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress 
may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of 
the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good 
behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services a com- 
pensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in 
office. 

Section II. 1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law 
and equity arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, 
and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; to 
all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls ; 
to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; to controversies 
to which the United States shall be a party ; to controversies be- 
tween two or more States ; between a State and citizens of another 
State : between citizens of different States ; between citizens of the 
same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and be- 
tween a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens, or 
subjects. 

2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and 
consuls, and those in which a State shall be party, the Supreme Court 
shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before men- 
tioned the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to 
law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations, as the 
Congress shall make. 

3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be 
by jury ; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said 
crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within 
any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may 
by law have directed. 

Section III. 1. Treason against the United States shall consist only 
in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving 
them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless 
on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confes- 
sion in open court. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

2. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of trea- 
son, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or for- 
feiture, except during the life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

Section I. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the 
public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. 
And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which 
such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect 
thereof. 

Section II. 1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all 
privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. 

2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other 
crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, 
shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from which 
he fled, be delivered up to be removed to the State having jurisdiction 
of the crime. 

3. No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws 
thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or reg- 
ulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be 
delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may 
be due. 

Section HI. 1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into 
this Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the 
jurisdiction of any other State, nor any State be formed by the junc- 
tion of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of 
the Lesrislatures of the States concerned, as well as of the Con- 



2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all need- 
ful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property be- 
longing to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall be 
so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any 
particular State. 

Section IV. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this 
Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of 
them, against invasion ; and, on application of the Legislature, or of 
the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against 
domestic violence. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ARTICLE V. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem if. 
necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the 
application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, 
shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either 
case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Con- 
stitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the 
several States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one 
or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress : 
Provided, that no amendment which may be made prior to the year 
one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect 
the first and fourth clauses of the ninth section of the first article ; 
and that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal 
suffrage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI. 

1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the 
adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid against the United States 
under this Constitution as under the Confederation. 

2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall 
be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be 
made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme 
law of the land ; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, 
anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary not- 
withstanding. 

3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the 
members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judi- 
cial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall 
be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution ; but no 
religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or 
public trust under the United States. 

ARTICLE VII. 

The ratification of the Conventions of nine States shall be sufficient 
for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratify- 
fng the same. 

Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent of the States present, 
the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thou- 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 



sand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of the 
United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof, we have 
hereunto suhscribed our names. 

George Washington, 
President, and Dejruty from Virginia. 



NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

John Langdon, 
Nicholas Gilman. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Nathaniel Gorham, 
Rufus King. 

CONNECTICUT. 

William Samuel Johnson, 
Roger Sherman. 

NEW YORK. 

Alexander Hamilton. 

NEW JERSEY. 

William Livingston, 
David Brearley, 
William Paterson, 
Jonathan Dayton. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Benjamin Franklin, 
Thomas Mifflin, 
Robert Morris, 
George Clymer, 
Thomas Fitzsimons, 
Jared Ingersoll, 
James Wilson, 
Gouverneur Morris. 



Attest 



DELAWARE. 

George Heed, 
Gunning Bedford, 
John Dickinson, 
Richard Bassett, 
Jacob Broom. 

MARYLAND. 

James Mc Henry, 

Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, 

Daniel Carroll. 

VIRGINIA. 

John Blair, 
James Madison. 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

William Blount, 
Richard Dobbs Sprdght, 
Hugh Williamson. 

SOUTH CAROLINA. 

John Rutledge, 
Charles C. Pinckney, 
Charles Pinckney, 
Pierce Butler. 

GEORGIA. 

William Few, 
Abraham Baldwin. 
William Jackson, Secretary. 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 
ARTICLE I. 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, 
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of 
speech or of the press ; or the right of the people peaceably to assem- 
ble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. 

ARTICLE II. 

A vsrell-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free 
State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be 
infringed. 

ARTICLE III. 

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without 
the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be 
prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE IV. 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, 
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be 
violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, sup- 
ported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to 
be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 

ARTICLE V. 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous 
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except 
in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in 
actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person 
be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or 
limb ; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness 
against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without 
due process of law ; nor shall private property be taken for public use 
without just compensation. 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE VI. 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a 
gpeedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district 
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall 
have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the 
nature and cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnesses 
against him ; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his 
favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence. 

ARTICLE VII. 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed 
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact 
tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the 
United States, than according to the rules of the common law. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor 
cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

ARTICLE IX. 

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be 
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

ARTICLE X. 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, 
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respec- 
tively, or to the people. 

ARTICLE XI. 

The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to 
extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against 
one of the United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or 
subjects of any foreign State. 

ARTICLE XII. 

The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by baliol 
for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be 
^Ti inhabitant of the same State with themselves ; they shall name in 

37 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots 
the person voted for as Vice-President ; and they shall make distinct 
lists of all persons voted for as President and of all persons voted for 
as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which hst they 
shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the Govern- 
ment of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The 
President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House 
of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then 
be counted ; the person having the greatest number of votes for Presi- 
dent shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole 
number of electors appointed ; and if no person have such majority, 
then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding 
three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Repre- 
sentatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in 
choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the repre- 
sentation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose 
shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, 
and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And 
if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President, whenever 
the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of 
March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as Presideiii, 
as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the 
President. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice- 
President shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of 
the whole number of electors appointed ; and if no person have a ma- 
jority, then from the two highest numbers on the list the Senate shall 
choose the Vice-President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of 
two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the 
whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person consti- 
tutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that 
of Vice-President of the United States. 

ARTICLE XHI. 

1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punish^ 
ment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall 
exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdic- 
tion. 

2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate 
legislation. 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE XIV. 

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject 
to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United Stales and of the 
State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law 
which shall abridge the privileges or ininiunities of citizens of the 
United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, 
or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within 
its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States 
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of 
persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the 
right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and 
Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the 
executive and judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legis- 
lature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, 
being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or 
in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other 
crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the propor- 
tion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole 
number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 

3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or 
elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or 
military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having 
previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of 
the United States, or as a member of any State Legislature, or as an 
executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of 
the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against 
the same, or given aid and comfort to the enemies thereof. But Con- 
gress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disabihty. 

4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by 
law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for 
services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be ques- 
tioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or 
pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion 
igainst the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of 
any slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held 
illegal and void. 

5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legisla- 
tion, the provisions of this article. 



THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ARTICLE XV. 

1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied 
or a])ridged by the United States or l)y any Shite on account of race, 
color, or previous condition of servitude. 

2. Tlie Congress shall have power to enforce the i)rovisions of Ihis 
article by appropriate legislation. 

ARTICLE XVI. 

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, 
from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the 
several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. 

ARTICLE XVII. 

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators 
froi-i each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each 
Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the 
qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of 
the State Legislatures. 

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the 
Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of elec- 
tion to fill such vacancies : Provided, That the Legislature of any State 
may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments un- 
til the people fill the vacancies by election as the Legislature may direct. 

[This Article rei)laces the provision in Article I, Section III, of the 
Constitution for the choosing of Senators by the Legislatures.] 

RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

The Constitution was ratified by the thirteen original States in the 
following order : 

Delaware, December 7, 1787 ; Pennsylvania, December 12, 1787 ; 
New Jersey, December 18, 1787; Georgia, January 2, 1788 ; Connecticut, 
January 9, 1788; Massachusetts, February 6, 1788; Maryland, April 28, 
1788 ; South Carolina, May 23, 1788 ; New Hampshire, June 21, 1788; 
Virginia, June 25, 1788; New York, July 26, 1788 ; North Carolina, 
November 21, 1789 ; Rhode Island, May 29, 1790. 

RATIFICATION OF THE AMENDMENTS. 
I. to X. inclusive were declared in force December 15, 1791 ; XL was 
declared in force January 8, 1798 ; XII. was declared in force Septem- 
])er 25, 1804 ; XIII. was proclaimed December 18, 1865 ; XIV. Avas ])ro- 
claimed July 28, 1868 ; XV. was proclaimed March 30, 1870 ; XVI. was 
proclaimed February 25, 1913 ; XVII. was proclaimed May 30, 1913. 



Table of States and Territories. 



Name. 



Delaware . . 
Pennsylvania 
New Jersey . . 
Georgia . . . 
Connecticut . 
Massachusetts 
Maryland . . 



South Carolina . 
New Hampshire 
Virginia .... 
New York . . . 
North Carolina . 
Rhode Island . 



Vermont . 
Kentucky 

Tennessee 
Ohio . . . 
Louisiana 
Indiana . 
Mississippi 
Illinois . . 



Alabama . 
Maine . . 
Missouri . 
Arkansas . 
Michigan 
Florida. . 
Texas . . 



Iowa . . . 
Wisconsin 



Okigln of Name. 



California . . 
Minnesota . . 
Oregon .... 
Kansas .... 
West Virginia 
Nevada . . . 
Nebraska . . 
Colorado . . . 
North Dakota 
South Dakota 
Montana . . . 
Washington . 
Idaho .... 
Wyoming . . 
I Utah 

Oklahoma 

New Mexico .... 

Arizona 

District of Columbia 

Alaska 

Hawaii 



In honor of Lord Delaware . 

Penn's woodland 

From the Island of Jersey . . 

In honor of George II 

Indian— long river 

Indian— at the great hill . . . 

In honor of Henrietta Maria, 
wife of Charles I 

In honor of Charles II 

From Hampshire, England . . 

In honor of Queen Elizabeth . 

In honor of the Duke of York 

In honor of Charles II 

Dutch— Rood (Red) Island, or, 
from the Isle of Rhodes . . . 

French— green mountains . . 

Indian — probably hunting 
land 

Indian— crooked river .... 

Indian— beautiful river. . . . 

In honor of Louis XIV. . . . 

From the word " Indian" . . 

Indian— great river 

From name of river and In- 
dian confederacy 

Indian— here we rest 

The main land 

Indian— muddy river 

Indian— after its main river . 

Indian— great sea 

Spanish— flowery 

Indian— name of a tribe or 
confederacy 

Indian— meaning doubtful . . 

Indian— probably gathering 
waters 

Spanish— from an old romance 

Indian — cloudy water .... 

Meaning doubtful 

Indian— meaning doubtful . . 

From Virginia 

Spanish— snowy mountains . 

Indian— shallow water . . . 

Spanish- red or ruddy .... 

Indian— the allies 

Indian— the allies 

Spanish— /Hoy?<ar»<i , a mountain 

In honor of Washington 

Indian— gem of the mountains 

I Indian— broad plains 

I Indian — moimtain home . . . 
Indian— fine country .... 

From Mexico 

Meaning <U)ubtful 

From Columbus 

Indian— great, or main land . 
Given by the Natives .... 





1787 


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1787 


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1787 


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1788 




1788 


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1788 


c 




c \ 


1788 


.5 


1788 
1788 




1788 


tC 


1788 


^ 


1789 


K 






.1790 




1791 



1792 
1796 
1803 
1812 
1816 
1817 

1818 
1819 
1820 
1821 
1836 
1837 
1845 

1845 
1846 

1848 
1850 
1858 
1859 
1861 
1863 
1864 
1867 
1876 
1889 
1889 
1889 
1889 
1890 
1890 
1896 
1907 
1912 
1912 






2,050 
45,215 

7,815 
59,475 

4,990 

8,315 

12,210 
30,570 
9,305 
42,450 
49,170 
52,250 

1,250 
9,565 

40,400 
42,050 
41,060 
48,720 
36,350 
46,810 

56,650 
52,250 
33,040 
69,415 
53,850 
68,915 
58,680 

265,780 
56,025 

56,040 

158,360 
83,365 
96,030 
82,080 
24,780 

110,700 
77,510 

103,925 
70,795 
77,650 

146.080 
69,180 
8-1. 800 
97,890 I 
84,970 I 
70.430 I 

122.580 

113,U20 ' 
70 

.577.390 
b,740 I 



202,322 
7,665,111 
2,537,167 
2,609,121 
1,114.756 
3,366,416 

1.295,-346 
1.515,400 
430,572 
2,061,612 
9,113,279 
2,206,287 

542,610 
355,956 

2,289,905 
2,184,789 
4,767,121 
1,656,388 
2,700,876 
1,797,114 

5,638,591 
2,138,093 

742,.371 
3,293,335 
1,574,449 
2,810.173 

751,139 

3,896,542 
2,224,771 

2,333,860 

2,377,549 

2,075,708 

672.765 

1,690.949 

1,221 119 

81,875 

1,192,214 

799,024 

577,056. 

583,888 

376.053 

1,141.990 

325,594 

145,965 

373,351 

1,657.155 

327.301 

2(>4,354 

331.069 

64.356 

191,903 



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